CPP

The card protection and life assistance organisation - which with 1,100 people is one of the biggest private firms in York, and was The Press Large Business Of The Year in 2005 - has a massive programme of workshops, designed to give students a better understanding of enterprise.

Over the 2006/2007 academic year, seven specialist groups, each of three or four employees, have delivered their message to 14 to 16-year-olds in every secondary school in the city, as well as York College and the York Pupil Support Centre.

And that is just one aspect of the company's attempts to link up with young people in York, which also includes a regular Ideas In Action competition, offering professional development opportunities for teachers, and educational activities linked to its sponsorship of the York City Knights Scholarship And Academy programme.

About 650 students, aged between 14 and 19, have in some way engaged with the company to enhance their experience of the world of work.

So it is hardly surprising that CPP is again entering Best Business And Education Link category in The Press Business Awards 2007. It has been a finalist for the past two years running.

The workshops, linked into business studies and information technology curricula, cover subjects such as customer service, applied ICT in business, managing your money, enterprise capability, business objectives and human resources.

Paul Murphy, executive director of North Yorkshire Business And Education Partnership, which has helped CPP to organise the workshops, said: "The work we do with CPP is at the cutting edge of employer engagement.

"It has attracted attention both regionally and nationally. This is not a toy or gimmick - it is real, practical work in classrooms and with students across the city.

"What is so remarkable is that CPP has a deep understanding of the educational curriculum and the perspective of the teaching profession - which is why its programme has been embraced so warmly."

The firm's Ideas In Action competition is a product innovation contest for students aged between 14 and 19, with a £2,000 cash prize for the winning school and vouchers for the successful students.

The students have to choose their product, develop it, then present it to CPP judges. The best chosen from these have to face a panel of senior CPP management.

Emerging victor from 130 students from 14 schools this year were eight teenagers from All Saints' RC School, whose Save It scheme offered a complete real-time PC and lap-top back up service.

CPP also staged a Young Sports Photographer Of the Year competition with York City Knights Rugby League Club.

First prize went to Rebecca Hemenway for her image of a young York swimmer.

She was awarded a Canon Ixus camera, worth £250, a trophy, and pitchside access to take photos of the York City Knights-Workington game at Huntington Stadium.