Jobless youngsters offered free training courses
Jobless young people in Exeter and East Devon are being offered free training that could lead to a guaranteed work experience position.
PGL Training of Exeter is preparing to run two-week employment skills courses to anyone aged between 16 and 23 who is currently not in work, education or training. And if they complete the course satisfactorily they will be offered a guaranteed work experience placement in the local area. The courses are due to start on Monday, February 3.
PGL Training director Andy White said: “Nationwide, there are more than one million youngsters who are not in education, employment or training.
“The problem is particularly bad in the South West, with around 100,000 young people with nothing to do. So we thought we’d use our expertise in apprenticeships and traineeships to do something to help.
“That’s why we’ve launched our Your Call initiative, to offer free training in a range of work-related activities. For those who complete the course and show the right attributes we’ll guarantee work experience with one of the hundreds of local employers we work with.
“And if the employer and the youngster agree, this could then lead to a formal traineeship, subject to eligibility, which could last up to six months. During that six months, if an apprenticeship comes up, the trainee would then be in a great position to start getting paid employment.
“We’re calling it Your Call because that’s what it is: it’s up to the young people to make the call to us to see what we can do to help. We’re prepared to help those who finish the course, and show commitment, high levels of attendance and presentation, and the right attitude.”
The two-week courses will all cover CV writing and English, maths and IT skills, and there will be a range of vocational tasters including: customer service; health and safety; plumbing; electrical; environmental studies; warehousing; and business administration.
Top performers will also qualify for an added incentive from PGL, such as cinema tickets and mobile phone top-up vouchers.
Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw said: “Exeter’s economy has been fairly resilient during the global downturn but even here we’ve seen a big rise in long-term unemployment among young people.
“Training initiatives like this are vital to ensure our young people have the skills and tools needed to find and keep a job.”
Mr White added: “PGL has been training apprentices in a wide variety of sectors for almost 10 years now, so we have a great deal of experience in helping young people as they start on the career ladder.
“We’re also really pleased at our latest Ofsted report, which rated us as Good in all areas. The report is on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports, and we’d encourage anyone looking at a training provider to compare our report to others in the region.
“The inspectors said our learners were motivated by the enthusiasm of staff and enjoyed the challenging activities that they were set, so we hope to be able to pass on that enthusiasm to young people in need of a helping hand.”
Enrolment for the courses takes place in January 2014. To register for a place, go to the website www.pgltraining.com/applications.asp or call PGL Training on Exeter 01392 437373.
