It might not be capable of 200 mph like Jenson Button’s Brawn UK car, but students at Nottingham’s Castle College certainly secured pole position for Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) as they transformed a second-hand banger into a racing machine.
In a 60-minute workshop, college students practiced their motor vehicle maintenance and enterprise skills as they converted a Vauxhall Corsa into a racing car.
The event, ‘From Banger to Brawn’, was organised by Adrian Bambridge, Castle College’s Head of Marketing and Communications and supported by Unleashing Enterprise, the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) funded initiative, which encourages young people to be more entrepreneurial.
“GEW starts on Monday 16 November and we wanted to find a way of making it interesting and exciting for young people on our NVQ motor vehicle maintenance course,” explains Adrian. “Given the interest and excitement around Jenson Button and Brawn, which is based in the East Midlands, motor racing was an obvious choice. Our budget wouldn’t stretch to an F1 car, but this old Corsa is well on its way to being a completely pimped and performance-enhanced vehicle!”
GEW runs from Monday 16 to Friday 20 November. Over 150 events will be staged across the East Midlands, all encouraging people with ideas for new businesses and money-making ventures to realise their ambitions.

Chris Shaw, Regional Manager at Unleashing Enterprise, who invited Castle College to be involved in launching GEW, said: “After watching these enterprising young people, I’m sure next week is going to be a great success! We have lots of activities taking place across the East Midlands. Schools, colleges, universities and both large and small companies are all getting involved and encouraging people to become more entrepreneurial. Given the state of the economy at the moment, GEW is incredibly important in helping the East Midlands move towards recovery.”

Phil Bramhall, Skills Development Manager at emda, which funds Unleashing Enterprise and works with GEW organisers Enterprise UK in the East Midlands, added: “This event has been fantastic and we’re really pleased to see the pupils rising to the challenge and making the most of what GEW has to offer.  This campaign offers an excellent opportunity to help develop an enterprise culture across the region, which is vital in ensuring the prosperity of the East Midlands in future.”
Details of the wide range of events taking place across the East Midlands during GEW and the initiatives being organised and supported by Unleashing Enterprise can be found at www.gew.org.uk and www.enterprisingstreak.org.uk .

ENDS

Issued on behalf of emda / Unleashing Enterprise by lava. For further information please contact Matt or Louise at lava on 01522 842 800 / 07870 567 968 or matt@lavapr.co.uk / louise@lavapr.co.uk

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Notes to Editors:

About emda

East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development.

Ten years on, independent evaluation shows emda has:

· Had a significant impact on the region’s economy

· Generated economic benefits that substantially outweigh its overall costs

· Put back over £9 of economic output (or GVA) into the regional economy for every £1 it spends

· Produced more than £1 billion in economic benefits per year

• A wider impact on people, places and businesses in the East Midlands that cannot be captured by figures alone.

emda is committed to supporting the region through the current downturn and has put in place a range of measures to provide real help during these challenging times.

Over the long term, emda’s aim is to deliver the 2006 Regional Economic Strategy (RES) by working in partnership with public, private and voluntary organisations.  The RES highlights the themes of productivity, sustainability and equality and sets out key priorities until 2020 to ensure the vision for ‘a flourishing region’ can be achieved.

For more details visit www.emda.org.uk

About emda’s support of Global Entrepreneurship Week

Since 2004 emda has been coordinating partners to deliver a regional response to the national Enterprise Week (now called Global Entrepreneurship Week) campaign as well as developing a year round culture of enterprise within the East Midlands.  emda aims to create a culture which supports enterprising people and recognises that making money and having a positive social impact can go hand in hand. Visit www.emda.org.uk for more information.

Unleashing Enterprise Partnership

Unleashing Enterprise is creating a partnership for all enterprise educators to pioneer a culture of enterprise across the East Midlands. The partnership is managed by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and developed in close partnership with educators, employers, enterprise agencies, policy makers and funding organisations.

The programme is helping to facilitate a more cohesive and planned approach to the development and delivery of the enterprise offer in the East Midlands. It is also helping to promote opportunities for all people, but mainly young people, to take up the enterprise skills offer in their schools, communities or places of work. For more information visit www.unleashing-enterprise.co.uk