Kirklees College has announced its renewed corporate partnership with Yorkshire Asian Business Association (YABA) this year.

The partnership allows both the organisations to support and promote one another and will also see staff members from YABA working from the college as part of the partnership.

The staff members already work for YABA and will continue their training and employment with the organisation from the 6th floor of the Huddersfield Centre at Kirklees College. They will be working to drive apprenticeship opportunities, and were warmly welcomed to the KC Community.

Representatives from YABA and Kirklees College were joined by the Mayor of Kirklees, Councillor Masood Ahmed, for a meeting to celebrate the partnership on Monday, 30 January.

The Mayor said: “Having attended and worked at Kirklees College, it is always a pleasure to return to see how it has developed over the years. The partnership with the Yorkshire Asian Business Association will hopefully see both organisations flourish and enhance the education and employment opportunities for young people in our borough.”

Palvinder Singh, Principal and CEO for Kirklees College remarked: “This new stage of our partnership marks the beginning of a new venture for both YABA and the college. Working with YABA allows us to expand our opportunities for young people in a way that reflects the diversity of Kirklees.”

“We look forward to welcoming YABA to the KC community and by having them work in our offices, we will be able to support YABA’s corporate, business and community ventures”.

Sharon Jandhu OBE from YABA commented: “It was excellent to meet with the Lord Mayor of Kirklees Cllr Masood Ahmed, Palvinder Singh and the team at Kirklees College to discuss and launch the new and exciting partnership YABA has with Kirklees College, with a shared purpose of improving the lives and opportunities for young people in Kirklees and across the Yorkshire region.”

“It was inspiring to see the hard work that the Kirklees College team have done to help local young people and we cannot wait to work with them to continue to improve the lives of the young people. We look forward to bridging the gaps between companies and the college and seeing this new partnership flourish.”

The partnership came just in time for National Apprenticeship Week, which began on 6 February. The organisations hosted a range of events to mark the occasion, including an Engineering Recruitment Fair and Women in Construction event. You can read more about the apprenticeship provision here, and learn more about YABA by visiting their website.