AN OSWESTRY-based firm has helped students at a north Shropshire school learn more about the world of work with an 'Enterprise Programme'.

Aico, in Maesbury Road, recently delivered its enterprise challenge for Year 10 students of Thomas Adams in Wem as part of their commitment to supporting education in the local community.

Through their corporate social responsibility programme 'Aico in the Community', the firm has begun focusing on supporting children through a range of initiatives, such as assisting schools with their careers programmes, preparing the future generation for the world of work and exposing students to some of the skills they may need in the future.

The pandemic was the driving force behind this initiative, with students having limited access to their futures programmes.

To combat this issue, the firm developed an enterprise challenge which aims to provide pupils with more knowledge about the world of work.

The session began by raising awareness of the number of careers options that are available, explaining the types of job roles within Aico and pathways to work.

The challenge was themed around bringing a home life safety product to market.

A student at Thomas Adams School said of the enterprise challenge: "We really enjoyed it, we liked learning about the company and being able to be creative.

"Overall, it was a very good event and I'd happily do it again."

Each team was split into various job roles including product development, finance, sales, operations and marketing to focus on packaging, customer service, budgets and sales.

The enterprise challenge concluded with each team presenting their business plan.

Examples included a medical emergency drone, a defibrillator compacted into a wearable hat and a motorcycle helmet with shock-proof airbags.

Lewis Hayward, a marketing executive Aico added: "The students came up with lots of unique and interesting products and it was great to see such passion and creativity towards creating these life safety devices. Now that things are opening back up I can't wait to get back into schools again."