Derby city careers scheme E4E shortlisted for an award and is praised for raising aspirations

A CAREERS initiative created to help inspire young people in Derby has been shortlisted for a regional award.

E4E is a Derby City Council-backed careers initiative that was set up in 2014. Led by manager Arshad Iqbal, it provides CV writing workshops, mock interviews, mentoring and ‘Dragons Den’ style Enterprise Challenge Day, where pupils pitch a project to business leaders who volunteer for the session. It also works with SEND provisions and helps those post-16 who are entering further education.

To date, the project has helped almost 50,000 young people and has 600-plus volunteers from various sectors across the city and county. Companies who are involved with E4E include global organisations such as Rolls-Royce, Alstom, Bowmer & Kirkland, Toyota and Lubrizol as well as small businesses operating from the city such as Colleague Box, Macmartin and Project D.

They have been shortlisted for an East Midlands Chamber Derbyshire Business Award in the Education and Business Partnership category, sponsored by Concertus. They are up against UTC Derby, Futures Group, DBC Training and Access Training (East Midlands).

Manager Arshad Iqbal said: “I am absolutely over the moon that E4E has been shortlisted for these awards. There are some brilliant organisations who are also on this shortlist, so competition is tough.

“Our aim is not only to raise aspirations of young people in Derby, but to also help boost their self-confidence and knowledge of careers and opportunities Post-16 with the activities that we provide support with.

“Over the past year, we have helped schools including Da Vinci Academy, Chellaston Academy, Derby Moor and Allestree Woodlands with mock interviews, CV workshops and Enterprise Challenge days. We have also donated a substantial amount of laptops to those who didn’t have access to one at home and even helped out on parents evening.

“We couldn’t do all this, though, without the help and support of our volunteers and I’d like to thank them, too, for their help with E4E.”

Katie Roberts is headteacher at Da Vinci Academy; one of the schools that works closely with E4E. She said: “Careers is a part of our vision as a school and what we do beyond that.

“This is the first year that our Year 10s have completed a CV or have an almost-complete personal statement that sets them up for the year. That is thanks to E4E and the support team we have here at Da Vinci Academy.

“I’m delighted for Arshad and the E4E team on being shortlisted for this award. Their sessions are always insightful and having employers in our school lifts the students; it inspires them.”

Others shortlisted for an East Midlands Chamber Derbyshire Business Award include Cosy Direct, Macmartin and Colleague Box – who have all volunteered their time to E4E over the last 12 months.

Winners will be announced later this year.