School children in Leeds have received a £1m grant to help develop their entrepreneurial skills.
The grant is part of the Leeds Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) programme, which is working with schools in disadvantaged areas of the city to raise pupils’ aspirations and develop enterprise and employability skills.
The £1m grant will be used to fund eight enterprise ambassadors who will work with teachers to ensure enterprise becomes a key part of the curriculum.
Mike Cooper of Educations Leeds said: “A central role of the enterprise ambassadors will be to help schools in disadvantaged areas of the city to encourage their pupils to understand the relevance of their studies to the world of work, and for some of our most enterprising young people, support them in considering the option of setting up their own business ventures in the future.”
Julie O’Brien, managing director of Creative Learning Events, runs non-curriculum events which take students through basic business practices.
She said: “At the start of the event the pupils are asked whether or not they would start their own business and within a few short hours their answer has changed from a resounding 'no' to a 'maybe I could'.
“The events that we run are educational but they are also about changing attitudes and opening up new options for people who never saw themselves as being able to run their own business.”
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