Youth Apprenticeship Programme

Torbay Council has recently been successful in their application to CrossCountry Railway's Customer and Communities Investment Fund. The CrossCountry programme is to support projects and to allow communities to undertake projects that address an area of social or community need and educate or engage with the Community throughout the CrossCountry network. As part of this project, Torbay Council are looking to address education and employability skills amongst marginalised groups, diversity & inclusion and social mobility.

The Children's Services Department project, within Torbay Council, is a work focussed service based in Torbay for care experienced young people aged 16-25 years old. The project will help bridge the gap between school, further/higher education, or permanent employment by giving work experience opportunities through an apprenticeship scheme, career advice and cv and/or job application writing skills support to young people in Torbay. The service will be staffed through the voluntary and community sector and will sit alongside the Virtual School team who are responsible for coordinating the education support of care experienced young people.

The Child Friendly Torbay initiative is keen to ensure that young people are given the best start in life and the opportunities to remain living where their most significant support network is i.e., extended families, foster or adoptive parents, friends, social workers etc.

Ensuring that supportive apprenticeships are readily available will help to raise the aspiration of care experienced young people, increase jobs fulfilled by local residents in Torbay and offer an opportunity for businesses to support young people with the addition of support available to them as well as the young person.

The support from the business community will be recruited by the business leaders supporting the Child Friendly Torbay initiative and will focus on the Torbay Business Forum members as a starting point. The project will regularly report to the Child Friendly Torbay Subgroup, the Corporate Parenting Group and the Virtual School Governing Body.

Torbay Council are running this process through Supply Devon. Please visit Supply Devon for more information: https://www.applegate.co.uk/quote/7b7efcac-bfa7-461a-a68b-278c894deedb/pdf