The winners of this year's Premier League Enterprise Challenge took centre stage once more for an event at the House of Commons to announce a new partnership between the Premier League and Sport Relief.
The winning team, representing West Ham United, told a gathering of MPs and special guests such as West Ham United joint-chairman David Gold, former Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers defender Graeme Le Saux and former Reading and Blackburn striker Jason Roberts of how the Enterprise Challenge has helped them.
"I came from humble beginnings and my life would have been a lot easier if I had had the mentors and encouragement these young men have been given"
The Enterprise Challenge is the highlight of Premier League Enterprise, a project which uses the hook of football and the knowledge and expertise of the clubs to engage young people in the world of business and enterprise. The initiative has engaged 90,000 young people since its inception in 2008.
Participants from West Ham’s Premier League Kicks won the fifth edition of the Challenge in May, beating five teams in the final at the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills in London.
As part of their prize, yesterday they visited Number 10 Downing Street to meet Lord Young, who advises the Prime Minister on small business and enterprise policy, while they also relived their winning presentation to Gold at the House of Commons.
"I am so proud of them," Gold told premierleague.com. "I am proud they have come from schools where I was born and proud they are here representing West Ham United. It's just wonderful to see.
"We ignore our young people at our peril. They need all the support and encouragement we can offer. Young people get such bad press but when a young person does a good thing, we don't see it in our newspapers. I am just thrilled that this project is succeeding.
"It's a momentous occasion for these young men. Here they are in the Houses of Parliament, in front of MPs, and it's incredibly daunting. I couldn't have done this when I was their age. It would have terrified me.
"I came from humble beginnings and my life would have been a lot easier if I had had the mentors and encouragement these young men have been given, through the funding and efforts of the Premier League and all the people associated with this scheme.”
Gold was so impressed by the West Ham team that he has invited them as VIP guests to a match at the Boleyn Ground, where he will discuss the business ideas with the students in more detail.
"Going to Downing Street and the House of Commons in one day has been great," said team member Ismaeel Haqq. "Opportunities like this make you more ambitious, they make you aim higher because you know it is possible. I will remember this for a long time.
"A lot of people doubted us but I am happy we stuck together as a team, got through it and turned up here. We've now been selected as ambassadors of this competition so we will be mentoring the kids that represent West Ham this year. We hope to take them all the way.”
The extension to the long-running partnership between the Premier League and Comic Relief will involve £2.7 million being invested into an expanded Premier League Enterprise programme. The scheme will target hard-to-reach young people who are underachieving or at risk of not realising their potential, with the aim of engaging 7,000 people a year in enterprise education activities.
"Young people need two things in my view, aspiration and the skills to develop"
Another £1.3 million of funding is being used to support three international sport development projects - Edu Sport's Go Sisters in Zambia, Magic Bus in India and Gol de Letra in Brazil.
"The way these two brands work together is something that not many people know about," said Charlotte Leslie MP. "The support the Premier League gives to Sport Relief is enormous, not only in terms of straightforward finance, but also in terms of the structural, brand and organisational help."
The Premier League and its clubs have supported Sport Relief since it was launched in 2002.
"My experience of the Premier League is a forward-looking organisation, a strong sense of doing good and using its power to influence things for the better in the world," Sport Relief chief executive Kevin Cahill said.
Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore hailed the partnership between the two organisations, saying it was "truly phenomenal" the work Sport Relief does around the world.
"Young people need two things in my view, aspiration and the skills to develop," Scudamore said. "That's what enterprise is and our new partnership with Sport Relief will do exactly that. We are going to target and reach young people and show them that this will help you for work, employment, self-fulfilment, self-confidence, it will make you feel good, and make you feel good among your peers."
