Skills day at Barnsley NHS Blood Transplant project

We held a skills day at our project at NHS Blood Transplant Centre in Barnsley on Friday 8th July. The event was for young people leaving care aged 16 to 24 and it was supported by operatives from Barnsley including 3 apprentices and Josh Close who came through the care systems.

The day was created after consultation with the More and Better Jobs Team at Barnsley MBC and Kier Housing Maintenance and the aim was to give the young people a ‘taster’ of construction and by working with and spending time with the apprentices to help them raise their aspirations to realise their potential.

Around 24% of offenders within the prison system have come through the care system so the more that we, as a company and individuals, can have a positive impact on their lives the more chance they have of successfully gaining employment.

Ken Keenan of Barnsley Council said of the event; “I just wanted to thank you and your colleagues for the effort and work that you put in to making the industry day for a group of young people from Barnsley so rewarding for them. The young people were very reticent to start with but by the time I had to leave they were all really keen to move their lives on in a real positive way. I know that this must be outside your normal working brief but I really want you to know that your input really made a difference to those young people’s view of themselves and the day was brilliant.”