Christina Savvides, Author at Capital City College Group

Colleges unite to roll out Visionnaires to help aspiring entrepreneurs start their own business

Posted on November 3, 2021November 3, 2021 by Christina Savvides

Twelve colleges have united to become founding partners of Visionnaires, a not-for profit organisation with the potential to help thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs across the UK.

Visionnaires provides free programmes for people wanting to start their own business or become self-employed, which include workshops, seminars, resources, support and advice.

Figures show that:

· Nearly two thirds of UK adults want to set up their own business

· 83 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds dream of self-employment

· More than 650,000 start-ups were founded in the UK from 2019-20

· Start-ups have created 40 per cent of new jobs in the UK.

Visionnaires was originally founded within Capital City College Group (CCCG) in 2019, with United Colleges Group, South Thames Colleges Group and NCG joining to form a community interest company in August this year.

CCCG already runs programmes through City and Islington College, Westminster Kingsway College (WestKing) and the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL), and its apprenticeship and training provider Capital City College Training (CCCT).

The new partner college groups are now rolling out programmes at eight further colleges – City of Westminster College, College of North West London, South Thames College, Carshalton College, Kingston College, Lewisham College, Southwark College and Carlisle College.

Colleges from across the UK are invited to join Visionnaires to encourage entrepreneurship in their communities and grow local economies.

Visionnaires has already helped more than 400 entrepreneurs from many diverse backgrounds start new businesses. A huge 96 per cent of participants have endorsed the programme as ‘excellent’.

Participants take part in practical workshops and receive expert advice and resources on topics including marketing, selling, finance and business planning. They can also promote their business in the Marketplace section of the Visionnaires website and continue to receive support and resources from Visionnaires indefinitely.

Visionnaires also runs workshops to inspire entrepreneurship among young people.

Nicolas and Julia Vendramin launched their fashion business LABELL-D after joining Visionnaires. The company sells collections from top designers made from recycled and sustainable materials.

Nicolas, 40, who previously worked for fashion houses including Hugo Boss, Bally and Harrys of London, said: “The fashion industry is very polluting in its nature and we wanted to do something about that. We’ve always been passionate about sustainable living and decided to set-up our own company to sell sustainable fashion.

“As I’ve always worked in big companies and thought big too – 10 steps ahead – but Wendy, my Visionnaires tutor, brought me down to earth and reminded me that a new business has to start from zero. The six-week course she taught was very pragmatic and helped me focus on the basics and get them right first. It was also great to learn with other entrepreneurs.”

Jay Patel, 29, joined Visionnaires to help him start up his culinary business Flavour Street to enable cooks to sell and deliver their own home-cooked food.

He said: “I have always been a massive foodie. I have family in hospitality and always been around it, but had never really done anything about it. I think the marketing part of the programme was the most helpful for me. I learnt how to plane out a campaign in a structured way. Also, I learnt a lot from the other participants on the programme too.”

Visionnaires’ CEO is social entrepreneur Pablo Lloyd OBE.

He said: “We’ve been running Visionnaires in partnership with CCCG for the past two years where we have seen a lot of demand and very encouraging feedback from participants. We have now developed a rich ecosystem of support for people who want to start their own business or become self-employed.

“Over the past year a number of other colleges expressed an interest in working with Visionnaires, and off the back of that I am delighted the programme is now available with 12 colleges to enable many more people in their communities to fulfil their entrepreneurial hopes and dreams and contribute to their local economy. We are now in discussion with other colleges across the UK to reach even more budding entrepreneurs.”

Click here to find out more about Visionnaires.

Waltham Forest College and Capital City College Group win partnership bid for professional development pilot

Posted on November 3, 2021November 3, 2021 by Christina Savvides

Waltham Forest College and Capital City College Group (CCCG) have won a partnership bid for professional development pilot.

The partnership is one of 22 winning bids chosen to take part in a £9.5 million government pilot to bolster teacher training in further education.

World-class further education is essential if we are to meet England’s skills needs and ensure that everyone is empowered to succeed.

The Further Education Professional Development Grant (FEPDG) pilot has been designed to support the commitment made in the Skills for Jobs White Paper to strengthen the professional development of teachers working in the sector to boost teaching practices, and so that young people and adults receive top class education and training.

This is important because evidence shows that the quality of teaching is the single biggest driver of student outcomes.

The FEPDG pilot supports groups of further education providers to develop collaborative approaches for teacher professional development and to share good practice that already exists within the sector.

Waltham Forest College is leading on a successful collaborative bid in partnership with Capital City College Group.

The development project will focus on subject specific professional development to improve the quality of curriculum design and teaching, learning and assessment, helping colleges to further develop a world class workforce ready to deliver the skills needed for future generations.

Janet Gardner, Principal and CEO of Waltham Forest College said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Capital City College Group on this important pilot that will help to further develop the skills of our valuable workforce.

“I welcome the recognition and support for the Further Education Sector with this much needed boost, developing expertise in higher level technical skills and specialisms which will further support economic recovery and support a world class workforce, preparing students to compete in a global market.”

The pilot will strengthen professional development in key areas of need and test approaches that could be extended to other providers in future. Evidence and resources created through projects will be shared with other FE providers in order to maximise reach and to make sure the sector as a whole benefits from the pilot.

Kurt Hintz, Executive Principal of CCCG, said: “We are delighted to join Waltham Forest College in this project. Our teams are really excited to be collaborating with their peers and partnerships like these show how joined up the London FE sector can be in when given the opportunity.”

Our response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget announcement

Posted on October 28, 2021October 28, 2021 by Christina Savvides

Following the Budget announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday, Roy O’Shaughnessy, Chief Executive Officer of Capital City College Group, said:

“The Government has promised to build back better and level-up Britain through a skills revolution. Colleges provide the training which the country needs to achieve that, so – following a decade of chronic underfunding for further education – it’s good finally to see increased investment in post-16 education and skills in the Chancellor’s announcements.

“We welcome the additional adult skills funding through Multiply and the National Skills Fund investments. We pioneered free Level 2 courses in 2017 and introduced more at Level 3 in 2019, and we know they make a huge difference by enabling people, for whom the cost would be a massive barrier, to return to education and gain valuable new skills. We also welcome the additional monies for 16 to 19-year-olds in T Level funding and the pandemic recovery plan. This Group has experienced some of the most acute impacts through the pandemic and this funding will go some way to tackling these effects.

“We are also pleased to see the further capital funding for colleges outlined. This will be critical to allow us to improve our facilities and infrastructure to provide even better spaces for students to learn effectively.

“Capital City College Group provides more apprenticeships in London than any other further education provider, so it is encouraging that the apprenticeships budget will increase over the next three years. Alongside this, we welcome the reforms to Universal Credit and DWP funding to help support more people into meaningful work.

“Overall, I believe the Budget and Spending Review announcements are a positive step for the Group and our colleges. However, on face value it only restores many of the cuts over the last decade rather than meeting the technical skills aspirations which have been articulated. More will be needed if the UK is to have a true skills revolution, level up and tackle the major challenges we face post Brexit and meeting our 2050 net zero carbon targets. We stand ready to work with Government to articulate how this may best be met.”

Student governors appointed to CCCG board for new academic year

Posted on September 29, 2021October 14, 2021 by Christina Savvides

Two students have vowed to make the student voice heard after being appointed to the board of Capital City College Group (CCCG).

Sinem Bozkurt and Jennisha Chin will provide a learner perspective to support strategic planning for the Group, which has around 30,000 students and apprentices.

CCCG comprises City and Islington College, Westminster Kingsway College and the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, and apprenticeship and training provider Capital City College Training.

Sinem, 17, said: “I applied to be student governor because I wanted to challenge myself and have an impact on the college in a positive way. It’s important for students to have a voice because every student, their education and overall satisfaction with their college is a priority. Having a student mindset will help the board make better decisions.

“I am very creative and a confident communicator and feel this role will be an invaluable experience where I can apply these skills, show my enthusiasm and make a mark.”

Sinem is in the second year of studying for an Engineering Level 3 Extended Diploma at WestKing. She is one of only four female students on her course and is her course representative.

She said: “Engineering is all about creativity and problem solving, it’s about innovating our everyday lives, the willingness to take up a challenge to create better and bring ideas to life – this is what drew me to engineering. In the future I hope to study software engineering and become successful in the field of tech.”

Jennisha, 38, is in her final year of a PGCE Further Education at CONEL and has been gaining experience as an A Level Business lecturer at CANDI’s Sixth Form College in Angel.

Prior to undertaking her PGCE, she completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of East London after graduating from the University of Plymouth with a BSc (Hons) in Business Management. She also has a Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS) from the Community Learning & Skills Service. She spent much of her early career in the hospitality industry and as a hairdresser after training at college in 2005-07.

Jennisha said: “I have industry knowledge and experience in hospitality as well as event management and have very strong people skills. People nearly always feel safe and comfortable to express their issues to me, and so I thought why not be a voice for the students?

“I hope to encourage them to come forward and share their concerns and support them to develop further with what the colleges have to offer, as young people are the future. I also feel that becoming a student member of CCCG board would be highly beneficial to me and my professional career and personal development.”

On her future plans to teach in FE, she said: “Many young adults leaving school are still confused or unsure of what they actually want to do or the opportunities available to them at this prime time in their lives, and this is why I want to encourage them to reach for the stars and let them know that nothing is impossible.”

CCCG students can also make their voices heard through the students’ union at each of the Group’s colleges or provide feedback through their class representatives and surveys.

Click here to meet the other Governors of the CCCG Board.