Kids' City, formerly Trojans, is offering free playwork training and work placements to young people aged 14 to 19 years old who are not already in education, training or employment. The initiative is backed by a local regeneration fund grant.
The initial training involves a two-day Playwork Basics course and induction where individual training plans are devised. The work placements then last for four months. During that time participants should acquire first aid, food hygiene and health and safety certificates.
A successful drop-in day held last week yielded three applicants for each of the ten places that Kids' City is offering. The trainees are paid at the minimum wage and they gain experience in a well-established organisation.
Afterwards, Kids' City will consider them for a permanent job, or give a reference to find one elsewhere.
Kids' City chief executive Jackie Nunns said, 'The initiative started in 2000 when we consulted with young people and learned that above all, they wanted the means to earn their own money. This flies in the face of the common perception that youths like to hang out in cafes or at bus stops causing trouble.
'Youths say to us that if they were able to earn, they would certainly be doing other things. At first we ran the sheltered work placements ourselves, but the management of young people is more labour intensive so we sought grants to see that it was successfully resourced.
'The rewards are enormous and one of these is that 60 per cent of the young people on last year's project now work as playworkers.'
