Member Article

East Durham ‘Learning Factory’ up and running

A new charity to get young people back to work is now up and running.

The Employability Trust, based in Peterlee, will support people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs) by offering them practical experience and vocational work to equip them with the skills needed to get a foot on the career ladder is now up and running.

The Trust is the brainchild of businessman Bill Marley, who following a career spanning 40 years wanted to give something back to the community which has served him so well.

And after supporting various employment and skills initiatives such as Sunderland Foundation of Light’s Back in the Game programme and launching a traineeship programme through the East Durham Engineering Forum, which he chairs, Bill decided his passion lay in helping young people who for one reason or another were struggling to find secure employment.

Mr Marley said: “The idea that I came up with was to launch a learning factory which would offer young people the chance to gain hands on experience and in many cases short term employment which would equip then with the skills they needed to find secure work.

“So I met with representatives from Durham County Council and many of the local industrial businesses to see if they’d support me and from there The Employability Trust was created.”

Once the concept for The Employability Trust was clear, Mr Marley set about forming a board and finding the right premises to set up.

He came across an empty, run down unit at Palmer Road on the South West Industrial Estate and knew it was perfect for the plans he had.

He got the keys for the unit in March 2012 and since then he and his team of four employees and two apprentices have worked tirelessly to get The Employability Trust off the ground.

With funding from the Area Action Partnership and support from a number of local businesses including Thorn Lighting BHK and Parker Hannifin, the transformation of the building is well underway.

Mr Marley added: “The support we’ve had so far has been fantastic and in August this year we’ve become a registered charity.

“We’ve relied on businesses helping because they see what a great job we’re doing. Working with us fulfils their corporate social responsibility whilst getting motivated and enthusiastic young people who are industry ready through the front door.

“There is still work to do before we achieve the vision for the unit and we have applied for help with some jobs that are just too big for us to manage alone.”

The Employability Trust works in conjunction with a number of partners to help unemployed young people from across East Durham.

Since launching, the charity has secured work with Metro Mail, Wilsonart and Seaward and has taken on 60 people on paid contracts of between four and 12 weeks.

Already 17 have gone on to secure careers with these and other companies in the area.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .