This is just the job
Last updated 11:43, Friday, 08 August 2008
SCHEMES in west Cumbria which help young people get into work were praised by a Government minister yesterday.
Beverley Hughes, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, said she was impressed with Home Appliances and the Green Apprenticeships scheme when she went to see the activities run at Westfield Drive, Workington.
She then travelled to see Egremont’s Wheels 2 Work scheme which loans young people mopeds so that they can get to work,
The green apprentices work with social housing landlord Derwent and Solway to produce fences for its properties across west Cumbria.
Home Appliances recycles white goods and computers and sells them on.
Mrs Hughes said: “The projects I have seen today have been hugely impressive.
“The Green Apprenticeships scheme is fantastic.
“The training is superb and it is not just them. Home Appliances help members of society by enabling them to afford household goods at a reasonable price.”
William Boyd, 21, of Well Lane, Maryport, has been part of the Green Apprenticeship scheme for 10 months. He said: “Being here has really given me a lot of confidence and will help me get a job when my time here comes to an end.”
Wheels 2 Work, at Wyndham Way, has been running since November 2006. It provides mopeds and the equipment needed to ride them to anybody over the age of 16, to use to travel to and from work.
Since the scheme started in west Cumbria, 80 youngsters have benefited from it.
Rachael Cockelty, 17, from High Wreah, between Hensingham and Frizington, borrowed a moped for a year before she passed her driving test and could return it earlier this week.
She used it to get to work at the Chase Hotel and Zest restaurant in Whitehaven.
She said: “It was brilliant. There are no pavements or bus routes where I live so there was no way I could have got to work.”
Mrs Hughes said: “This is a fantastic scheme which sets a standard for the country.
“It is really such a simple idea but the benefits are so immense.”
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