A teenage entrepreneur is helping young people back into work after launching a traineeship scheme that will be part of London Fashion Week.

Fashion Designer Chika Iwenofu, 19, of South Norwood, who set up her fashion label Chika Couture at the age of 16 is now looking to use her experience to help others, by launching the scheme.

The young designer is launching her new collection PunkAfrique on September 15 at the Fashions Finest London Fashion Week Show in Covent Garden.

Miss Iwenofu’s new collection is a collaboration with a group of 16 to 24 year olds who are struggling to find employment in London.

The teenager has set up a new traineeship programme which aims to help young people gain the skills they need to find work.

The scheme is specifically for those who have not achieved any qualifications above GCSE level.

So far the designer has five young people helping her with the project, and she is now looking for a few more to join the team.

Those on the scheme will learn about the fashion industry and will help design and make clothes. They also gain practice in CV writing and interview techniques.

People stay on the scheme for as long as they find beneficial, from a few weeks to a few months.

She hopes the young people will be able to gain a foothold in the fashion industry with London Fashion Week being seen as a valuable networking opportunity.

The scheme started at the beginning of August and the 19-year-old is already happy with how it has gone so far.

She said: " I started my own business when I was really young and since then a lot of young people have asked me saying they want to do a similar thing but they don’t know how to go about it.

"I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to help take them through the process and actively showing them what to do."

Miss Iwenofu was nominated for a Croydon Guardian Champions award in 2012 for her work with the Arts.

She is in her first year of university at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design.

For more information about the scheme email chikaiwenofu@chikacouture.com.