A £6 MILLION scheme aimed at getting thousands of young people into the health service will be piloted in Colchester.

The NHS and St John's Ambulance have teamed up to try and recruit and train 10,000 'NHS Cadets' by 2023.

Teenagers aged between 14 and 18 will be eligible for the scheme which will provide them with first aid training, courses to develop their leadership skills, and volunteering opportunities in the NHS – including vital hands-on work experience in hospitals.

Colchester has been chosen as one of the places for the project to be piloted along with Hull and London.

It is set to be rolled out across England in the coming months.

Bosses are hoping the scheme will have a similar impact as the police cadets where youngsters interested in law enforcement have been given a taste of what it is like.

Youngsters from marginalised backgrounds are being invited to apply, including those out of education, employment and training or who have never considered a career in the health service.

NHS chief nurse Ruth May, who is from Colchester, said: “The start of 2020 has been a challenging time for the NHS and its staff who have cared for 100,000 people with Covid-19 who needed specialist treatment and countless more besides, while working to redesign services and even build the Nightingale hospitals.

“However, this would not have been possible without the help and support of countless individuals including volunteers who are already making an enormous contribution

“Volunteers could and should never replace nurses, doctors and other staff but since the NHS’s foundation they have played a fantastic role in supporting clinicians and assisting patients and this initiative sits firmly in that tradition.

“By introducing an NHS cadets programme we are now offering young people a genuine opportunity to get a taste of what it’s like to work in the best health service in the world.”

There are currently 131,000 cadets in England.

Martin Houghton-Brown, CEO of St John Ambulance said: “This partnership with the NHS will create a new generation of young people motivated to learn more about health volunteering and social action.

"The unique hands-on experience that being a cadet provides will undoubtedly lead to many future healthcare professionals emerging."

“We are delighted to be focussing on young people to whom this may otherwise be unavailable, trusting them to care for others alongside NHS professionals”.