A Derby City Council organisation which works to inspire young people to aim higher and achieve their potential held its first event to celebrate young people’s progress, schools’ commitment and local businesses’ support.

Enterprise for Education (E4E) is a not-for-profit partnership between Derby City Council and key local businesses.

It brings employers into city schools to provide inspiration and share real-world careers experience through personal mentoring, mock interviews, career search support, careers events and industry visits.

The first awards event, organised by Derby City Council and sponsored by Copemann Ashby and Rolls-Royce plc was held at the University’s Derby Law Faculty.

The keynote speaker was Stuart Garner of Norton Motorcycles who talked about his career and highlighted the importance of employing and training young people in specialist vocational skills.

All city secondary schools were invited to submit nominations for the awards which celebrated the core values of E4E:

  • The Young Achiever award, sponsored by Rolls-Royce, celebrated young people who had overcome adversity to achieve. The winner was Luke Clough from Derby Moor Academy and highly commended were Penny Harrison from Chellaston Academy and Harriet Birch from da Vinci Academy.
  • The Aiming High Award, sponsored by the Titan Trust, recognised young people with high aspirations. The winner was medal-winning figure skater Genevieve Somerville from Littleover Community School and highly commended were talented young tennis player Dylan Davis from Chellaston Academy and aspiring politician Gagandeep Kaur who is Derby’s Deputy Youth Mayor.
  • Good Citizen award, sponsored by David Nieper championed students who have made the biggest contribution to their school. The winner was Orlagh Simpson who led a team at Littleover Community School that has won prestigious regional and national science competitions.  Highly commended were a group of students who support fellow students at Derby Moor Academy facing mental health issues as well as Jamie Crofts who is an anti-bullying, maths and LBTQ ambassador at da Vinci Academy.
  • Young Improver award, sponsored by Bowmer + Kirkland celebrated students who had made the most progress at school over the past two years. The winner was Littleover Community School pupil Ben Jukes with highly commended certificates going to Katie Heald from Derby Moor Academy and Jordan Lee Shelton from Landau Forte College.
  • School of the Year, sponsored by Freeths, recognised secondary schools that had prepared young people for the world of work through E4E and other employer engagement activities. Littleover Community School was named the winner with The Bemrose School and Derby Moor Academy highly commended.
  • Volunteer of the Year, sponsored by Pak Foods, celebrated the commitment from local business people who help E4E work with more than 3,000 young people every year. The winner was Martin Care with Samantha Wraith and Jeff Howe highly commended for their input.
  • The final award went to the winners of the annual Debating Competition which is run by Derby & District Law Society. Teams from eight Derby secondary schools took part and the winners were Littleover Community School’s first team with the second team runners up.

Cllr Evonne Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services said:

This has been a wonderful celebration of the inspirational partnership work that is being achieved by schools and businesses through the city council’s E4E programme and the achievements of young people in our city schools. Volunteers have significantly helped to raise young people’s aspirations and develop the skills and attitudes that will make them more employable in the future.  Long may this work continue.

E4E chair Mike Copestake, who compered the event, concluded:

E4E was set up to raise aspirations amongst young people – to help them develop a “can do” attitude for the skilled well paid jobs which Derby has to offer.

It also aims to help them develop the soft skills which can be so important when applying for jobs, dealing with customers and to encourage entrepreneurship amongst the city’s young people. Having established excellent relationships with both employers and schools through a number of activities organised by E4E, we were keen to showcase the positive impact that local business people are having on the lives of young people. This first awards event has brought everyone together to celebrate the achievements of young people, schools and volunteers who have both supported and benefited from the innovative E4E programme.

For more information about E4E and how to support the programme either financially or by volunteering for activities, please visit www.enterprise4education.com