Sunderland scheme gives backing to apprentices

A trailblazing programme which helps prepare young people for the world of work is adding to its activities.
Katie Bulmer-Cooke.Katie Bulmer-Cooke.
Katie Bulmer-Cooke.

Work Discovery Sunderland – which is now in its fifth year – runs a year-round calendar of events.

The programme includes guest speaker days, sector days and Work Discovery Week, which takes place each summer.

Paul McEldon.Paul McEldon.
Paul McEldon.
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And, for the first time, the project will be giving young people from schools across Sunderland the opportunity to visit leading businesses which have their own apprenticeship programmes.

National Apprenticeship Week 2017 runs from March 6 across the UK.

It will showcase the success of apprentices who are working in a range of different industries.

Work Discovery Sunderland is supporting National Apprenticeship Week by giving employers across the region the opportunity to showcase their own apprenticeship schemes to the future generations.

Paul McEldon.Paul McEldon.
Paul McEldon.
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Companies which have signed up and will be hosting sessions during the week include Lear Corporation, Gentoo, Liebherr, and Sunderland College.

Support has come from Unipres, ZF TRW Peterlee, Northumbrian Water and Caterpillar.

Also on board are BGL Group, Rolls Royce, Bond Dickinson and SUN FM, along with Carillion Training Services.

Paul McEldon, who is the co-chair of Work Discovery Sunderland, said it was another opportunity for young people in the city to boost their employment prospects and to get the inside track on apprenticeships.

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He added: “It’s fantastic that we have been able to continue to grow the Work Discovery Sunderland programme and create so many opportunities during the week for young people in the city.

“Many of our leading employers run apprenticeship schemes and this is a great opportunity for students to find out about this option and to see if it is a route that they can progress along.”

The week will end with a Work Discovery Sunderland guest speaker day on March 10.

The event will give pupils a chance to hear from Sunderland entrepreneur Katie Bulmer-Cooke and from Callum Robertson, from EMG Solicitors, who was one of the region’s first legal apprentices.