Six young people from Kent recently graduated from the first Traineeship programme run at JTL Training's Orpington training centre.

The young men, all between the ages of 17 and 18, took part in the Traineeship programme for potential plumbing and heating engineers, sponsored by The Carl Burrows Trust.

A traineeship is a relatively new approach by government to raise the employability skills of those leaving school, or currently registered as not in employment, education or training (NEET). Young people aged 16 to 18 complete a 9 to 12 week programme that combines work preparation and associated training alongside up to four weeks of work experience with an employer.

Leading the work at Orpington is JTL’s Stella Olufemi who has tirelessly presented the advantages of the scheme to both young people and to local schools and colleges.

“Employers can see this as an opportunity for young people to gain valuable work experience in their chosen trades while gaining life skills that will help them progress onto an apprenticeship. This in turn will benefit employers by creating more job-ready apprentices,” said Ms Olufemi.

The full programme includes work preparation – such as interview techniques, job search and interpersonal skills; functional skills – work towards achieving acknowledged competence standards in English, Maths and IT, if needed; up to four weeks work experience, either with one employer or a combination of employers; understanding building services engineering and the opportunities it presents; Health & Safety knowledge, including working at height; basic electrical or plumbing and mechanical principles and tool skills, both on site and within a workshop.

Overseeing this first Traineeship group was JTL’s Martin Hick: “We are delighted that this first cohort has been successful and already one of the six has an apprenticeship lined up and another has real work experience to go to. It’s early days and we look forward to helping the others into the next stage of their careers.”

The six learners - Joel Smith, Ayomide Daniel Ayorinde-Salami, Nyle Taylo, Simon Jezewski, Rory Hopgood and Dion Nayhoe - all undertook work experience of very different kinds, and each one marked their Traineeship experience at eight out of ten or above.

JTL plans to continue running Traineeship programmes from its Orpington Centre to add to those it has been running for more than a year from its Birmingham Centre.

For more information contact JTL at Orpington on 07825175819 or visit www.jtltraining.com.

Pictured: The Traineeship graduates with the JTL team and their employers