Leicester College teacher and student triumph at Peter Jones Foundation Graduation 2025

Leicester College has won two major awards at the 2025 Peter Jones Foundation Awards Ceremony. Beena Ghattoraya, Programme Lead for the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy (PJEA) was awarded Teaching Champion of the Year and Ruby Heggs won Inspirational Student of the Year.

Leicester College offers two level 3 courses at the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy. The Academy was set up by Peter Jones CBE – entrepreneur and star of the BBC’s popular show Dragons’ Den. The qualifications focus on furthering the aspirations of young entrepreneurs aged 16 and over, who have the determination to turn their ideas into reality and start their own businesses.

Commenting on the award, Beena Ghattoraya said: “I am honoured to have received the Teaching Champion award and even more proud that one of my students, Ruby Heggs was recognised as Inspirational Student of the Year.

“During my time as Programme Lead, we’re really proud that we’ve won the National Entrepreneur of the Year twice and Inspirational Student of the Year twice. 

“Moments like this remind me why we do what we do. My sincere thanks to the Peter Jones Foundation and all of the Leicester College team. After years of supporting young entrepreneurs and home-grown talent, it is amazing to see how far we have come and the strong sense of belonging within the PJF community.”

Ruby Heggs added: “I am honoured to be selected for this award, and I would like to thank the teachers for nominating me and the Peter Jones foundation for honouring me with this award. It means a great deal to a young person to be recognised and be given such a title. I hope other students will be inspired to follow their dreams and know that hard work does get recognised.”

Rupinder Drew, Head of Programmes at the Peter Jones Foundation said: “Congratulations to Beena and Ruby who were both recognised at the PJF awards ceremony, we were delighted to celebrate this achievement with you. We’re grateful to Leicester College who support our mission to champion enterprise education and empower their students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.”