press release

PRESS RELEASE
Young Enterprise Charter calls on business, government and educators to help every young person succeed
The Charter calls for:
Government to place business, employability and entrepreneurship education within the statutory curriculum
Employers to help dedicate 10,000 volunteer days to enterprise education during 2011/12
500 schools, colleges and universities to commit to a dramatic increase in their employer engagement during 2011/12
26 May 2011: Young people from London are joining thousands of youngsters around the country to launch the Young Enterprise ‘Build a Bridge’ Charter which calls on business, government and educational establishments to recognise the importance of enterprise education for every young person in the United Kingdom.
Youngsters from around the capital city aged 15-19 gathered at CITI in Canary Wharf to launch the Charter last night, which has already been supported by HSBC, Starbucks and Manpower, amongst others. The aim is to get as many signatures as possible from young people and the business, education and polical communities.

Mark Cahill, Managing Director at Manpower UK attended the launch event at Citigroup in Canary Wharf. He said: “Britain is currently experiencing a severe skills gap with employers struggling to find the right talent to fill roles which have structurally changed. We need to take action now to ensure the next generation of employees and employers are equipped to deal with this rapidly evolving jobs market. The Young Enterprise Charter recognises how important this is and at Manpower, we are supporting it 100 per cent.”
Young Enterprise believes that bringing teachers, employers, and employees, together with young people to share their skills will help inspire them to become the future business leaders, entrepreneurs and enterprising employees of tomorrow. The Charter calls for action now to equip the next generation with the skills to compete globally and drive the UK’s economic growth in the future.

John May, CEO of Young Enterprise, says: “It’s vital that young people have the the enterprise and entrepreneurial skills to drive our economic growth as well as to stand out in a very competitive market place and ensure they succeed in the workplace. To do this, we need to work together to build relationships between education and business and we need the government to help facilitate this.

“This Charter is all about building bridges. We need to bridge the gap in enterprise education in schools by making it a part of the curriculum. We need to build bridges between young people and the business community by encouraging skilled employees to volunteer their time to teach young people about key business and entrepreneurial skills through hands-on experience. Finally, we need to help young people successfully cross the bridge between education and work.”

~ENDS~
For further information:
Debbie Berger
Debbie.berger@gmail.com
+447738628126

Notes to Editors
Young Enterprise (YE) is the UK’s leading enterprise education charity offering school, college and university based programmes for four to 24 year olds that give young people hands on experience of business and enterprise.
In the 2009/10 academic year, 4,500 business volunteers delivered programmes to more than 250,000 young people across the country.
Supporters of Young Enterprise include: HSBC Bank Plc, Accenture, BT, Cadbury, Caterpillar Foundation, Edge, KPMG, Oracle, Procter & Gamble, Ryman, Cisco and Santander amongst others.
With almost 50 years’ experience, YE are an active member of Junior Achievement Worldwide and a founding member of JA-YE Europe. 
Young Enterprise alumni are twice as likely to start their own business, more successful in their careers and are more passionate about their jobs than their peers. Amongst business-owning alumni, Young Enterprise was ranked as the most significant experience they drew upon when establishing and building their venture. For more information visit www.young-enterprise.org.uk.
The Charter calls on:
Government to prioritise and support outstanding enterprise education in schools, colleges and universities; business, employability and entrepreneurship education to be placed within the statutory curriculum.
Employers to acknowledge the crucial role they can play in the development of their future workforce and to support, nurture and enable staff to volunteer time to pass on their business experience and skills to the next generation; 10,000 volunteer days to be dedicated to enterprise education during 2011/12.
Schools, colleges and universities to value and facilitate opportunities for young people of all ages to take part in stimulating enterprise activities throughout their educational journey; another 500 schools, colleges and Universities to commit to a dramatic increase in their employer engagement during 2011/12.