On Wednesday 8 July, Broadgate was filled with the voices of some very young traders.
Children from five local primary schools gathered to sell the fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers they had grown during the spring and summer terms as part of Young Marketeers, a food education programme run by the national charity School Food Matters in partnership with Coventry-based social enterprise Team Springboard and funded by Coventry: Business in the Community.
With support from school staff and School Food Matters' expert gardeners, the children grew an impressive range of produce despite the recent heatwaves. Sales of tomatoes, chillies, peas, flowers and more raised nearly Β£200 for Langar Aid, a Coventry charity supporting people experiencing homelessness and poverty.
As well as teaching children how to grow produce from seed and encouraging a lifelong positive relationship with food, Young Marketeers helps them develop valuable teamwork, enterprise and marketing skills. Throughout the event, the children confidently chatted with customers, counted takings and change, and came up with creative ways to boost sales, including mystery bags, bunches of flowers and free lavender plants with purchases.
The success of the day was perhaps best summed up by one child's question at the end: "You are coming back to us next year, aren't you?"
