Samantha Thompson aged 35 from Kennoway has had an idea which has meant that she has reached the grand final of the ‘This Morning’ television programme’s ‘Mumpreneur’ competition. Samantha is one of the 12 finalists. Over 19,000 others entered the competition.

 Like all the best ideas, Samantha came up with a simple solution to the age old problem for those who look after young children – how to keep a child’s interest without having all the toys and mess spread around the house. The answer for Samantha was the ‘Creation Station’ – a revolving desk with boxed compartments for individual activities suitable for pre-school aged children. Samantha’s idea first came to her about 18 months ago whilst she was spending an afternoon entertaining her son Richard, who was then 2 years old.

Speaking about her success Samantha said ‘I was delighted to get through to the final of the competition, but then came the problem of producing a proto-type to demonstrate my idea to the judges. I approached Carnegie College and found the lecturers and students from the School of Built Environment really helpful. I met with them on the Monday to discuss my requirements and on the Friday I was able to pick up a working wooden prototype. It is fantastic and I really appreciate the help they have given. This will certainly help me put my idea across in the finals and I may be picking up the first prize – a £5000 cheque!

Alan Huey Head of Carnegie’s School of Built Environment said ‘It was a pleasure to help Samantha out. The College is always keen to support entrepreneurs and those looking to start up new businesses. The encouragement of enterprise, innovation and creativity is embedded into the College values. The exercise undertaken on Samantha’s behalf clearly demonstrates this. It was a great opportunity for our students to become involved with a young entrepreneur who was clearly thinking ‘out of the box’. We wish her all the best for the finals to be broadcast ‘live’ during the week beginning 20 October.’
 
Samantha would like to see her idea turned into a product that would be available for every household, allowing all children the opportunity to express themselves creatively at an age, which is crucial for future development.