WHEN it comes to combining creativity with business acumen, students from an East London school have what it takes. Around 100 year 10 pupils from Sir John Cass Foundation and Red Coat School joined a one-day workshop to come up with the design for a char

WHEN it comes to combining creativity with business acumen, students from an East London school have what it takes.

Around 100 year 10 pupils from Sir John Cass Foundation and Red Coat School joined a one-day workshop to come up with the design for a charity T-shirt complete with a budget and a plan to market and sell it.

They were joined by volunteers from Barclays and textile design students from the University of East London.

The project is part of the Passport to Employability programme managed by Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership on behalf of The Hub, Tower Hamlets' 14-19 Partnership to help boost young people's skills. 'Passport' gives young people in the borough the chance to earn units that contribute towards an Edexcel Work Skills Qualification with GCSE equivalency.

Working to a strict timetable, the Stepney Way based students had to finalise their T-shirt design, budget forecasts and marketing plan before presenting them to a panel of judges. One member from each of 10 teams modelled the T-shirt in true catwalk style.

Louise Cleaver showed off her team's design with great assurance and the group's all round, professional package was voted the winner. "We had team work. We were confident and we all helped each other out and encouraged one another," Louise said afterwards.

Anward Jadoo from Barclays said: "There are some really bright young people here and I've got my eye on one or two as possible future Barclays' recruits.