King llunga took part in the Young Enterprise Company Programme at BSix Brooke House College where he took on the role of Managing Director. Throughout the programme, King was able to develop his confidence and learn a range of new skills. As a result, he was nominated for the YE Journey Award which recognises the young people who have been on the biggest transformational journeys throughout the programme.
Resilience was something King learned through participating with CED in Company Programme, he said, ‘’Sometimes I used I would give up but now I know I just have to keep on going’’. He also said that he’s proud of what he’s overcome and the YE Company Programme has been a steppingstone to putting into action all his learnings.
Hoodies, t-shirts and other clothing designed and adorned with the CED logo all created with resources that came from King Ilunga’s school, BSix Brooke House College.
King is the MD of CED (Cultural Ethnic Designs) which was a part of Young Enterprise’s Company Programme in 2018/19. CED were supported by Citi Bank volunteers and often held their business meetings at Citi head office. This afforded King and his fellow peers’ opportunities to gain experiences and develop skills they may not have had otherwise.
As a mature age student, King felt that had a different perspective to other students but that he still could gain a lot from them; ‘’Younger peers helped me realise that I could work with everyone and I learnt skills from others that I didn’t previously have’’.
There were issues with the team being a bit hectic and not wanting to follow King’s leadership especially when it was imperative to meeting deadlines. BSix college also had the passing of a classmate which also affected the motivation of CED. King noted that while these were hurdles to climb, they as a team still had to keep going and focus their efforts on the team.
‘’Even though I didn’t do my GCSE’s, I’ve still taken the opportunities to learn and taken the risks involved. Company Programme has motivated me for the future’’, King said.
Resilience was something King learned through participating with CED in Company Programme, he said, ‘’Sometimes I used I would give up but now I know I just have to keep on going’’. He also said that he’s proud of what he’s overcome and the YE Company Programme has been a steppingstone to putting into action all his learnings.
In the future, King aspires to become a businessman to support himself and his family, and a public speaker to be able to share his story and give people a voice that couldn’t speak on things. To sum up his experience in Company Programme, King says, ‘’It shows me I can do it the same as anyone else, I am able to do this despite my background’’.
King’s teacher Faye Bernard said:
“King is testimony that it’s possible for young people to influence their direction and refocus their path for the greater good once given support and opportunities through initiatives such as Young Enterprise.”