Derwen has been honoured to receive the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2022.

What are the Queen’s Awards?

The aim of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise is to recognise outstanding achievement by UK businesses. In fact, they are the highest level of awards available to British businesses.

The prestigious Awards were established in 1966 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (the Award was then known as the Royal Warrant).

Businesses are eligible to self-nominate in four categories, being:

• International Trade
• Innovation
• Sustainable Development
• Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility), to recognise businesses who promote social mobility.

Derwen’s application for a Queen’s Award

Derwen College applied for The Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2022, in the Promoting Opportunity category.

Our application was based on our college-wide approach to promoting opportunity for young adults with special educational needs and disabilities, and focussed on the vocational skills and on-the-job training we provide for our young adults.

The Queen’s Award judges were impressed by the life-changing opportunities given to our students, who learn industry-standard work skills in our customer-facing Marketplace, which includes:

• Garden Centre & Gift Shop
• Walled Garden Cafe
• The Orangery Restaurant,
• Hotel 751
• The Vintage Advantage Charity Shop

Our work building partnerships with local and national businesses was also recognised for the opportunities it presents to our students, bringing industry champions, external work placements, and exposure to industry expertise relevant to our students’ learning and desired employment outcomes.

The judges were keen to learn about our Careers Programme, which is continually developing and adapting to the needs of a changing cohort of students, along with the specialist Support Work apps that the college developed to support students in their work placements.

We were proud to provide student destination data, student success stories, commercial business figures, quotes and testimonies which demonstrated our holistic approach to supporting students towards their future ambitions.

What does the award mean for Derwen?

The award recognises the education and vocational training Derwen College provides for young people from across the UK. 

We were delighted to be one of only nine winners in the Promoting Opportunity category in 2022, and one of only four Shropshire businesses recognised across all four categories this year.

As winners of the Queen’s Award we are:

• Invited to a Royal reception – CEO and Principal, Meryl Green, attended the Royal reception for winners of the award at Buckingham Palace in July.
• Presentation of the Award by The Queen’s representative, Shropshire Lord Lieutenant Anna Turner in September.
• Able to fly The Queen’s Awards flag – which you can see at our Gobowen campus in Oswestry, Shropshire.
• Given a Grant of Appointment (an official certificate).
• Given a commemorative crystal trophy.

The Award is valid for 5 years.

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