Two initiatives to support young people’s enterprise in the West Midlands were launched on 17th November 2008. The launch of the West Midlands Young People’s Enterprise Centre of Expertise (YPCOE) and the Aston Villa Football Club Enterprise Academy (AVFCEA) will provide a real boost to young people’s enterprise across the region.
The new schemes are sponsored by regional development agency Advantage West Midlands. YPCOE will receive £650,000 to initially provide three years’ strategic support for the development of young people’s enterprise across the West Midlands.
The centre is managed by Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and will focus on all young people aged 5 to 25.
YPCOE’s main objectives are to:
- Facilitate the integration of young people’s enterprise development into mainstream business support and economic regeneration activity across the whole of the West Midlands region, thereby increasing the number of young people starting a business and accessing business support
- Ensure that young people throughout the region are able to access enterprising activities within their school and community in order to help develop a more enterprising culture and change attitudes towards entrepreneurship.
The AVFCEA has been established to deliver enterprise education in five local schools over an initial three-year programme. Students aged 13-14 years old will be given a unique insight into the running of an exciting multinational business during curriculum time.
Commenting on the initiatives Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, said: “Aston Villa’s scheme will have a tremendous impact on the local community and will provide a range of exciting opportunities to help develop the next generation of top entrepreneurs.
“The initiative will help to give young people in Birmingham an understanding of Aston Villa FC as a business rather than just a football club and hopefully help them to enjoy learning about enterprise along the way.”
EnterpriseUpfront will keep you updated of any developments relating to these initiatives in future issues.