By Martin Walker
Children as young as four will get free training seminars in business and enterprise thanks to forward-thinking councillors.
Eight Durham County councillors have each pooled resources from their Neighbourhood Budget fund, along with a £4,000 donation from Great Aycliffe and Middridge Partnership (GAMP) and money from Shildon and Bishop AAP to finance the £18,000 project.
Michelle Postma, Shildon and Newton Aycliffe Extended Schools Co-ordinator, successfully wrote bids for the funding, which will benefit hundreds of young people aged between four and 16.
Young Enterprise, the country’s largest business and enterprise education charity, will deliver workshops to young people from 12 schools in Newton Aycliffe, and three in Shildon.
The courses, which will run from January through to December, will cover a variety of subjects to give young people an early insight into the world of business, as well as teaching important life skills.
A class will spend a full day every week, over a five-week period every term this year, going from the basics of business and its place in the community, to entrepreneurial thinking and global enterprise.
Councillors Mike Dixon, Enid Paylor, Joan Gray, Paul Gittins, Sarah Iveson and John Moran have all committed £2,000 each from their budget to cover Aycliffe schools, while Gary Huntingdon and David Hancock have allocated £2,000 between them from Shildon and Bishop Auckland AAP money.
Cllr Gittins said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the children of Newton Aycliffe and Shildon to get an insight into business from the experts.
“Young Enterprise uses the expertise of ambassadors from a wide range of industries to provide training to young people, so we saw this as a no-brainer.
“It’s also a brilliant example of how councillors can work together. We recognised this as a genuine chance to provide something unique to all young people in our area, not just those in our own wards, so everyone involved can only be applauded for looking at the bigger picture.”
Michelle Postma, Extended Schools Co-ordinator for the Aycliffe and Shildon cluster, added: “We are lucky that GAMP and the councillors in Shildon and Aycliffe are prepared to work with us by supporting our schools and helping give opportunities to the children and young people that otherwise might not have benefited from such an opportunity.
“The enterprise activities will provide the children and young people with important life skills as well, especially when thinking about their future.”
Young Enterprise will be delivering the programmes at Sunnydale Community College, St John’s and Timothy Hackworth primary schools, all in Shildon, as well as Greenfield Community College, Woodham Technology College and Sugar Hill, St Mary’s, Byerley Park, Aycliffe Village, Stephenson Way, St Joseph’s, Walworth, Vane Road, Horndale and St Francis primary schools in Newton Aycliffe.
● Pictured: Michelle Postma, Cllrs Hancock, Gittins, Iveson and Gray, with Young Enterprise Manager Alison Wilkinson, GAMP co-ordinator Adam White and Sunnydale school pupils Adam Thompson, Becca Scott, Abi Charleton, Ryan Bullyment.