A PARTNERSHIP that aims to give Bradford’s young people important business skills won the Business in Schools Award.

The Ahead Partnership’s Integrated Bradford - Make The Grade scheme works with seven schools in the Bradford district - Beckfoot School, Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College, Grange Technology College, Hanson School, Titus Salt, Tong School and University Academy Keighley.

Integrated Bradford has invested in its Make the Grade programmes to provide opportunities for students of all ages and abilities to develop their employability skills and confidence when it comes to future careers success.

It focuses on bringing ideas and inspiration through real-life, hands-on experiences about future career paths to young people.

School teams work with business experts and volunteers to design and deliver activities that have a lasting impact, combining their knowledge and expertise to provide exciting experiences for students that help them to make more informed decisions about their futures. With the help of Ahead Partnership, each school chooses a variety of activities to make up their programme each year and may choose to co-invest in order to expand opportunities and have a wider reach.

The award was accepted by Megan Taylor, from the Ahead Partnership, Tom Darling, from Beckfoot School and Craig Ashton, from Integrated Bradford. Miss Taylor said: “We’re all here because we know how important it is to get children to know about the world of work. There are hundreds of great businesses in Bradford who want to do amazing things getting involved in this partnership.”

Mr Darling said: “I think schools are taking note of the importance of linking with businesses a lot more.”

Honorary mentions

Nazrul Islam - Feversham Primary

Buttershaw Business and Enterprise