Entrepreneurial competition for local youths reaches its climax

Following four months of training and competitions a student has been crowned champion of an entrepreneurship competition.

Five young people from the area took part in the final of Barking & Dagenham College’s ‘Ready.Set.Success!’, the employability and entrepreneurship challenge.

At the College’s Rush Green campus, the last remaining five semi-finalists took the stage to showcase their skills in front of a live audience of judges, students, college representatives, and educators. Contestants had to deliver a business ideas pitch and do a mock interview.

Competition was fierce but one contestant emerged victorious, 19-year-old Keytrin Gyumova, a Games Art & Animation student at Barking & Dagenham College, dazzled judges with her skills, beating the other 120+ promising young contestants.

Her winning business idea was to develop an online hub where people can buy affordable online courses related to creative topics such as graphics, moving image, digital drawing etc.

Victorious Keytrin took home over £5,500 in prizes, including Empowered Youth mentorship, a professional investment, the iconic trophy, the bragging rights, and the opportunity to be the face of the campaign for next year.

Aveesa Tariq, 18, also a student at the College, and Kyle Clayton, 15, from Abbs Cross Academy & Arts College in Havering, earned a respective 2nd and 3rd place finish also received a combined £4,000 in prizes.

The competition was funded using Government’s catch-up fund, an initiative which supports 16-19 year-old students nationwide to reengage with their learning and catch up on the missed classroom hours resulting from the pandemic.

Keytrin’s tutor, Katie Morgan commented: “I’m so proud of Keytrin and delighted that she, along with dozens of other local young people got to be part of this exciting competition which taught all of them, whether winners or losers, lots of valuable skills.”

The competition, which is divided into three stages and designed to provide students with the skills needed to achieve real-world success, involved two months of highly educational digital workshops and compelling challenges, followed by a period of vigorous expert-led training. Finally, remaining contestants were interviewed live on stage before pitching their unique business ideas to a panel of judges. The unique campaign, which aims to train and educate students in Entrepreneurship and Employability, marks the second year of collaboration with Barking & Dagenham College.

“Empowered Youth would like to congratulate all of our amazing contestants on their great performances along with everyone else who got involved. The competition was close, and everyone gave it their everything. The feedback has been fantastic, and we’ve never been more impressed by the contestants and of course the innovative and fun approach to education that Barking & Dagenham College, provides. Well done all!” said Dene Botha on behalf of Empowered Youth.