Career Champions won the Education and Business Partnership award at the East Midlands Chamber Nottinghamshire awards.

It is a partnership set up in 2013 to bridge the gap between schools and businesses by Berni Dickinson, director of marketing and enterprise for The Evolve Trust; Caroline Cox, operations manager from Mansfield 2020; and Katrina Atherton, business director of A-Star Media.

To date over 100 businesses in Mansfield and Ashfield have taken the pledge to consistently support the employability programmes uniquely put together by the Career Champions board as a result of listening to what young people need from businesses and what employability businesses need from young people.

The programmes reached over 2,000 young people last year via work experience, masterclasses, sponsorship for networking and much more. The business and education partnership has created sustainable jobs and other opportunities that provide a measureable difference to the future workforce of Mansfield and Ashfield and the local economy.

The employability gap is recognised nationally but Career Champions are driving forward change by listening, doing and getting results! Businesses are now seeing for themselves that the town is filled with potential future business leaders that just need an opportunity.

Caroline said, ‘This award is a thank you to our local business leaders for believing in our passion to create ground breaking measureable change for our town and for investing time in our young people. Our program is completely free to be a part and it continuously proves to businesses that we have talent hidden within our local schools and likewise we are inspiring young people to stay in our town by demonstrating that Mansfield and Ashfield is the hub for SME’s and world class organisations waiting to give them the opportunities we can introduce them too.

We are driven by local business and education needs not government statistics or tick box funding exercises. And we thank the judges of this award for recognising our niche and crowning us winners!’

If you would like to find out more about being a Career Champion email: [email protected]