£40,000 Apprentice funding is changing lives

A Teesside homeless charity is set to offer apprenticeships to six long-term unemployed youths, thanks to a £40,000 grant from Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation.
The donation to Community Campus ‘87 will create six two-year apprenticeships across Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar that would not otherwise have existed.
The apprentices – all long-term unemployed – will get real work experience by helping to transform previously derelict properties into homes for homeless young people.
The funding covers two apprenticeships in construction, giving them skills and experience in areas such as bricklaying, painting and decorating, and four in housing and administration, helping to give life opportunities to six local people who might not have otherwise had an opportunity to kick-start their working lives.
Simon Virth, service manager for Community Campus ’87, said: “This funding will make a huge difference to the lives of six young people, giving them purpose, confidence, hope and aspiration.
“We are reliant on this type of funding to create opportunities for young people, so it’s fair to say that if we hadn’t received this money from the Foundation then we wouldn’t be able to offer these life opportunities to six young people.
“We look to create opportunities for young people to become more self-reliant, and becoming employable is naturally a great way to do that. By creating apprenticeships we hope we’ll ensure these young people will become employable and therefore enjoy a better life.”
Of 23 previous Community Campus apprentices, 18 are now in employment, some of them within the organisation and others with local construction and building businesses.
Shaun Hughes, a director of Philanthropic Foundation patrons Erimus Insurance Brokers, said: “A big part of what the Foundation is all about is helping to change the lives of Teesside people for the better, and this is one of the best examples of us doing just that.
“We’re working with the brilliant Teesside organisation to fund six apprenticeships that would not have otherwise existed, helping to kick-start the lives of six young people that need our helping hand.
“Erimus and our fellow Foundation patrons are proud to be making a real difference to Teesside people on projects such as this.”