Pupils enter the dragons' den

1:50pm Friday 10th October 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

A machine that makes fruit smoothies, a wheelchair bed with an en-suite toilet and a gym just for over-65s were among ideas pitched by young Skipton entrepreneurs.

The teenage inventors from Aireville School were set the challenge of devising health and fitness schemes for the young and the over-60s.

In a television-style Dragons Den set-up, they pitched their ideas to a panel of judges. The “dragons” – Aireville headteacher Stuart Mason, school business manager Jane Bailey, North Yorkshire County Council assistant landlord Phil Jones and Craven Herald editor Peter Greenwood – passed comment on the schemes in front of the school’s year 11.

“The whole of year 11 was split into groups of 10 and 11 and during the morning they worked on their pitches and delivered them to the dragons in the afternoon,” said Jane, who said there had been some truly innovative ideas.

Peter Greenwood said: “The dragons got into character and gave the groups a hard time but, really, that was just a bit of a show. We couldn’t fail to be impressed by the students’ enthusiasm and energy and some of their ideas were highly original. They did superbly well.”

When the dragons gave their verdicts, the winners were the team who came up with a Nintendo Wii game which featured healthy eating and exercise.