From home to West Kent Housing

25 June 2012

Kent jobs for Kent young people provides 15 new apprenticeships

Fifteen young people are getting out of the house to take up an apprenticeship with West Kent Housing Association.

The community-based business, which provides affordable homes and services to people living in the county, is now providing a foot on the career ladder for a number of young people who have been unemployed for more than three months.

It has all been made possible by the Kent jobs for Kent young people scheme. Kent County Council has invested £2million to help local employers take on more apprentices. Businesses could take advantage of a £2,000 grant towards the employments costs – add in some national funding, wherever possible, and that figure more than doubles to £4,275.

James Woods is one of the 15 who have got a lucky break. He said: “I’ve been on work experience placements before but this is the first time I’ve been offered a job with serious training and the chance to do something I enjoy that helps other people. I’ve been trying to get into work for a long time but there aren’t many jobs and when there are, there aren’t many people willing to give a young person a chance.”

Signing up for Kent jobs for Kent young people is really easy and hassle free. An apprenticeship team is available at the end of a phone on 0800 10 18 2 24 or by emailing kep@kent.gov.uk

Leader of Kent County Council Paul Carter said: “James’s experience is similar to a number of young people and it is for him and many others like him that the county council launched Kent jobs for Kent young people. West Kent Housing Association deserves great credit for providing 15 apprenticeships.

“We are working very hard to maximise the apprenticeship opportunities for young people. Unemployment figures are far, far too high in this country and we have put in £2million alongside national subsidy to create a scheme that declutters the bureaucracy for businesses wanting to take on an apprentice. The cost to employers is now as little as £52 a week to take on better skilled, better motivated young people. It is good for business, good for the young person.”

The West Kent apprentices will be employed in a range of roles across the organisation and its charitable subsidiary including plumbing, administration, youth work and housing support.

Will Campbell-Wroe, Managing Director of West Kent’s community development charity West Kent Extra, said: “We are pleased to be able to work closely with Kent County Council to create these exciting new apprenticeships at West Kent.  We know that the young people who come to West Kent will have a great experience that will hopefully set them on a career path they will enjoy. 

“We see a large number of young people who struggle to get that first opportunity in the workplace and we are pleased to be able to offer them challenging and creative roles that will support them and the communities they live in.  But we know this isn’t all about the young people, they have many things to teach us as an organisation and these new roles give many of our own staff a first experience of line management. 

“We believe that these new posts will benefit the individuals, West Kent as an organisation, the Kent community and the Kent economy, so it was an easy decision for us an organisation to say yes to apprenticeships ”

When an employer gets in touch with Kent County Council, a member of the apprenticeship team will meet them to discuss their requirements and guide them through the recruitment process, supplying draft contracts, job descriptions and identifying the best training programme. The majority of form-filling is completed, the employer just needs to read it and sign.

On a recent visit to Kent, the Secretary of State for Education, Iain Duncan Smith, hailed the youth employment scheme, describing it as ‘an excellent innovation’.