Unemployed youngsters have taken a step closer to coming off benefits...after completing a six-week course aimed at providing them with new skills.
The Uksa Change Direction programme trained the Neets (Not In Education, Employment or Training) in maritime skills to enable them to pursue a career in the industry.
During their training, they spent five weeks in Southend at a sea cadets centre and a week in the Isle of Wight. Of the six people, aged between 18 and 25, who started the course, two have gained employment after completing the course, one as a landscape gardener and the other in the building trade, while a further three have been taken on by Uksa.
One participant left the course early on. The team received level 1 and level 2 qualifications from the Royal Yacht Association which covered employability skills, first aid at sea skills and a licence to drive powered craft.
Gary Kurth, youth training manager at Uksa, said: “It is always very uncertain how it will pan out because we can not be sure how these students would get on and make the next steps, so we were really pleased with how it went.”
Students gave presentations on their achievements at TS Implacable in Milton Road, Westcliff.
Uksa is a charity offers the professional maritime training courses alongside youth development programmes to help young people transform their lives for the better.