67 guests gathered at Leeds Trinity University on 27th June for an early evening event to celebrate a remarkable year for Mosaic Yorkshire. Esteemed guests included: volunteer mentors who have so generously and expertly supported our programmes during this academic year and the young people they have supported. Speakers included James Somerville, Head of Design at Coca Cola and Zeeshan Shah, CEO One Investments and candidate on this year’s BBC1 The Apprentice.
Nabila Ayub, Regional Manager for Mosaic Yorkshire and host for the evening commented: “It was wonderful to be able to celebrate with so many of our volunteer mentors. Our mentors freely give up their valuable time to help the young people from this region; without their support, we wouldn’t be celebrating our success here today. We want to thank all the mentors, companies and organisation who have supported our programmes during 2012/2013.
The event kicked off just after 5pm with a speech from Zeeshan Shah,who spoke about his personal journey and shared his experiences from The Apprentice, stressing the importance of young people getting involved in business and enterprise. Zeeshan strongly encouraged the gathered guests to continue supporting mosaic through mentoring.
Next on the packed agenda were the students from Carr Manor Community School who gave a flawless performance of their business pitch that took them all the way through to this year’s Apax-Mosaic Enterprise grand final.
The highlight of the evening came from James Sommerville, VP Global Design, The Coca-Cola Company; Mosaic Yorkshire recently undertook a ground breaking World of Work visit to Coca-Cola Enterprises. James gave a unique presentation that illustrated his personal journey from humble street artist in Huddersfield to head of design at Coca-Cola. James encouraged the gathered students to think of a “small idea and work it to achieve bigger things in life.” James said after his presentation: “I always find speaking to young people such a refreshing experience. I’m sure it won’t be long before Mosaic has its first millionaire young entrepreneur!”
Following James’ talk, the evening went straight into the awards and presentations; 3rd prize of Cafe Nero vouchers, free business cards and Mosaic goody bags went to Bruntcliffe School, 2nd prize went to the David Young Academy who received free business cards, sketchpads and bags designed by Emma Shipley (Camira Fabrics) and finally 1st prize went to Carr Manor Community School who won Cineworld tickets for a movie and Lahore Cafe Bar meal Vouchers.
Commenting on the winners and the evening in her closing speech, Sarah Khan Bashir, Co Chair of the Yorkshire Regional Leadership Group said: “What an event, and what a year it has been for Mosaic Yorkshire. We would not be able to support these young people without our team of mentors, participating schools, teachers and the support of parents. Our immense gratitude also goes to the local businesses who make our World of Work visits not only possible, but inspiring and engaging. Alongside our new relationship with Coca Cola, we would also like to thank Leeds Trinity University, O2, Aargrah Restaurants, Akbar Restaurants, West Yorkshire Police and HMRC. This is as much their celebration as it is ours.”
Mosaic Yorkshire is now recruiting mentors to support programme delivery commencing in the autumn term. Anyone interested in becoming a mentor should contact nabila.ayub@bitc.org.uk
