Council and firm join up to scheme
YOUNG people will have fresh opportunities to experience the workplace as two more Hinckley employers join a scheme.
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and Neovia Logistics signed up to the EmployAbility scheme pioneered by Cadent and will offer internship placements to students from two special schools.
The move represents a welcome birthday present for the scheme, which is now in its fifth year.
Neovia and the Borough Council join Cadent and its service providers, 14Forty, CBRE and Pertemps.
Cadent’s EmployAbility champion Dave Tilley said: “It’s great to welcome Neovia and the borough council to EmployAbility – we couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present.
“Growing the scheme in this way will create life changing opportunities for more young people, as well as bringing untapped talent into more of our businesses in Hinckley.
“The opportunity was born out of the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Employment and Skills Task Force which is bringing our business community together to do some great work for the borough.”
38 interns have taken part in the scheme over the last five years with 73 per cent getting jobs at the end.
Karl, 19, from Dorothy Goodman School, and Lewis, 18, from Nuneaton’s Oakwood School have completed their first placements at Cadent’s Brick Kiln Street offices.
They will start new placements at the borough council and Neovia in January for three months.
Sharon Stacey, director of Community Services at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, said: “We are keen to promote apprenticeships and employment throughout the borough so we are very proud to welcome our first EmployAbility intern to one of our busiest service areas.
“We have been impressed by the positive impact EmployAbility has on both the interns and employees and by the high standards of their work.
“We look forward to Karl joining us in the New Year.”
Justin Colllingwood, operations director of Neovia Logistics, said: “This is about giving young people opportunities to succeed.
“I left school at 15 with minimal opportunities available to me but I wanted to get on in life and someone gave me a chance.
“For me it’s about giving Lewis the same opportu- nity that I had.”
Cadent’s third intern this year, Callum, of Dorothy Goodman School, will take up his second placement with the company.
Cadent is one of only a handful of UK companies with a specially designed strategy to help students with learning needs and disabilities gain job skills.
The company partners with local special schools and offers year-long internships.
The programme builds their confidence, gives them valuable skills and boosts their chances of landing jobs and college places.
Of the 38 interns so far, 15 currently work at Cadent.
Others have landed jobs with other local employers or gone into further education.