Talented teens need your support at Teenage Market

The organisers behind Millstream Square’s artisan and craft markets in Sleaford are facilitating space for at least four Teenage Market stalls within each of these events across 2024, together with support from North Kesteven District Council.

The first Millstream Square Market event takes place this weekend on Saturday May 4, from 10am to 3pm, and there have been some fantastic Teenage Market applications for this from young people producing innovative products. Millstream Square and North Kesteven District Council can now confirm the first successful Teenage Market traders at the event this Saturday will be:

· Oakensartifacts which specialises in hand carved wooden creations, such as incense holders, bookmarks, coasters and wands.

· Gemilys have handcrafted gemstone jewellery including bracelets, earrings and charms.

· Camilyroseprints will be selling downloadable and purchasable prints, as well as some cards and jewellery.

· Singer Noah Glenn will be performing covers. They will be doing two half-hour sets (11-11.30am and 12-12.30pm) on the day.

Singer Noah said: “I started singing really young; I can't exactly pinpoint when but I remember listening to my parent’s music and loving it. My dad’s a musician too and he's kind of my inspiration but I'd never tell him that. I like to perform a lot of Broadway/West End and pop music like Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift and Lana Del Ray. My own stuff is a lot slower, when I get an acoustic guitar they'll gain melodies but for now I just have lyrics. This will be my first teenage market and I'm really excited about it because it will level up my confidence.”

Emily Wadkin is behind Gemilys. She said: “I started making beaded bracelets when I was 13 and studying for my GCSE’s, as it helped with my anxiety and focus. I then had a lot of bracelets made and needed to sell some to buy more beads! With my mum’s help we went to a village hall craft fair where we met an amazing group of local crafters who helped us with ideas and showed us how to set up a stall to display my jewellery better. Over time they really helped me and my mum to feel more confident. So, last year, when our crafter friends opened The Happy Crafters Craft Shop in Westgate, Sleaford I was delighted to be offered space in the shop to sell my jewellery.

"I now volunteer in the shop and host wellbeing sessions monthly to try to help people, in the same way that our crafter friends have helped us. I’m really looking forward to joining the Teenage Market as this will be the first time I have manned my stall without my mum. I think it will be a good opportunity for me to meet other teenage crafters and to build my confidence in talking to people.”

Cameron George and Emily-Rose Youens are both behind Camilyroseprints. Emily-Rose said: “We create jewellery and cards that people can purchase, and we also design and print out posters that people can either download if they want multiple or can purchase on the day. This is our first market and we decided to join it as we’d been having some difficulty setting up our own Etsy shop, and we figured that this would be a good way of getting a feel of what we would need to do in order to become a successful business.”

Oakley Leonard runs Oakensartifacts and said: “This market will officially be the start to my business, however my inspiration comes from messing about and finding out about woodcraft and just having fun. I fell in love with woodwork at the Grimsby Viking event last September and have been doing it for fun since. Joining the market will help me expand my business and teach me valuable lessons about businesses.”

Landlord of Millstream Square Harriet Baker said: “Our first market of the year is nearly here, and we cannot wait. With new traders joining us from surrounding areas and the collaboration with The Teenage Markets, it is sure to be another great day at Millstream. We would love it if the local community would continue to support our markets, especially for the benefit of these budding entrepreneurs as it is a courageous and exciting day for them. We always have a great time and look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.”

North Kesteven District Council Assistant Director of Economy Tony Mabbott said: “It’s fantastic to see these entrepreneurial young people being the very first to participate in Sleaford’s Teenage Markets for 2024, putting their skills into practice alongside Millstream Square’s artisan and crafts market traders. Our hope is to provide a platform where young people can showcase their talent and engage with the local community, and also use the experience to help them towards becoming the next generation of traders and local business owners.”

Applications for Teenage Market stalls are also now open for the next market, which will be on Saturday 1 June from 10am to 3pm. If you’re interested, do apply! Anyone aged between 13 and 21-years-old can have a stall or perform at each Teenage Market, but if aged 16 or under must be accompanied by an adult.

Millstream Square is providing gazebos for The Teenage Market traders at each event, hired out by North Kesteven District Council. The Council will also ensure each stall holder who successfully applies through The Teenage Market platform is covered by the Council’s Public Liability Insurance. Interested young traders or performers can create a profile at www.theteenagemarket.co.uk and from there apply to take part in each Teenage Market event in Sleaford as it comes up.

Once signed up to the platform, they’ll be notified when new events are listed so they can ensure they get their applications for each event in. Selections are made together by Millstream Square and the Council. After applying to take part, the organisers will let applicants know if they have been successful. Millstream Square has a non-compete agreement in place and so it’s also asked that traders at The Teenage Market do not sell anything that mirrors local businesses at Millstream Square. This will be taken into account during the application process and any queries can be directed to [email protected]

The Teenage Market is being funded for one-year as part of North Kesteven District Council’s Events Programme, receiving £2,775 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The success of the Teenage Market will then be reviewed to see if it could be continued and even expanded.

It’s a nationwide initiative originally set up by teenage brothers Tom and Joe Barratt in their hometown of Stockport to bring more young people to their town’s local market. Successfully trialled in Sleaford in 2016 for a short period of time by the Town Team, Teenage Market events are now delivered across the whole of the UK supported by the Government’s High Streets Task Force. You can like The Teenage Market on Facebook for more and follow on X @teenage_market

For more on UK Shared Prosperity Fund projects in North Kesteven, see www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/ukspf and sign up for the Council’s Levelling Up e-newsletter at www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/stayconnected You can also follow @northkestevendc on social media or sign up to the Council’s e-newsletter.