An organisation in Derby which works to inspire young people to aim higher and achieve more is holding its first event to celebrate young people鈥檚 progress and local businesses鈥 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, Rolls-Royce at the University of Derby, will be held at the University鈥檚 Derby Law Faculty on July 2.

Stuart Garner, chief executive of Norton, will be guest speaker
Stuart Garner, chief executive of Norton, will be guest speaker

The keynote speaker will be Stuart Garner, chief executive of Norton Motorcycles, which is based at Castle Donington.

All city secondary schools have been invited to submit nominations for the awards which recognise young people鈥檚 engagement and achievements through the E4E programme.

The categories are Aiming higher (sponsored by the Titan Trust), Young Achiever (sponsored by Rolls-Royce), Good Citizen (sponsored by David Nieper), Young Improver (sponsored by Bowmer and Kirkland), School of the Year (sponsored by Freeths) and Debating competition (sponsored by Derby Law Society).

Rolls-Royce has offloaded a chunk of its pension risk liabilities to Legal & General
Rolls-Royce is among the companies backing the awards

There is also an award, sponsored by Pak Foods, for the Volunteer of the Year from a local employer who has made a particularly outstanding contribution to E4E activities.

Mike Copestake, chairman of E4E, said: 鈥淓4E was set up to raise aspirations among young people to help them develop a 鈥榗an-do鈥 attitude for the skilled well paid jobs which Derby has to offer.

鈥淚t 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 among the city鈥檚 young people.

鈥淗aving 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.

鈥淭his first awards event will therefore bring everyone together to celebrate the achievements of young people, schools and volunteers who have both supported and benefited from the innovative E4E programme.鈥