TODAY, the Mirror launches our Route to Work campaign to help unemployed young adults into work through paid apprenticeships.
We are appealing to companies, large, medium and small, to take on an apprentice and help get young East Surrey people working.
The Mirror can reveal that our area is one of the hardest in the country to try to join a business, with the number of apprentices taken on standing at 470 in the Reigate constituency and 630 in the East Surrey constituency in the 2011-12 financial year.
The figure shows East Surrey businesses took on three times fewer new apprentices than the country's leading district, Richmond, in Yorkshire, which recorded 3,670.
We hope that large companies will take several apprentices, but even hiring one will send a signal to our youth that we are in this together.
It won't cost much, with new Government subsidies, and you will also be getting an eager young worker and giving a young person a chance to grasp the first rung of the ladder.
We are convinced Route to Work could be a game-changer for youth unemployment in the area.
Join us to make a difference to the lives of unemployed young East Surrey residents.
Speak to your company.
Get them to hire an apprentice.
Just take one.
Let's start to change our area for the better, one unemployed young adult at a time.
To get the ball rolling e-mail editor@surreymirror. co.uk
What are we asking?
We want companies – large, medium or small – to take one or more apprentices. Many apprentices will already have completed pre-apprenticeship training, including skills in English and maths to GCSE level. Apprentices will be ready to start an intermediate or advanced apprenticeship with you, while training one day a week with the apprentice provider.
What is an apprenticeship?
It is a paid job that includes on and off-the-job training and leads to nationally recognised qualifications.
Why are we doing this?
Youth unemployment has reached crisis proportions across the country not seen for a generation. Their biggest obstacle is lack of work experience. An apprenticeship is the ideal sustainable start for someone seeking that first rung on the ladder.
Is there a sweetener?
The Government may give you a grant and one of our partners will do all the paperwork to make it easy.
