Celebration event at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, for first young people on new pre-apprenticeship programme

The first participants in a new initiative to boost the skills of disadvantaged young people in Cambridge have graduated at a celebration event at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge.

The five-week Green Skills Pre-Apprenticeship Training programme, led by Groundwork East, was hosted by St Edmund’s and forms part of FutureIN.

FutureIN is a Cambridge-based programme that provides young people from challenging backgrounds – including homelessness, and those who are not yet apprenticeship-ready – with work experience and short courses in property and construction.

The seven participants, recruited by TrAC Apprenticeships through Jobcentre Plus Cambridge, braved the elements to transform an unused space in the college grounds, culminating in the construction of a large gazebo adjacent to the college’s outdoor gym, with integral timber benches, a patio and a pathway.

Graham Watson, bursar of St Edmund’s College, told the participants: “You have worked incredibly hard, in all weathers, to produce such a well-designed and solidly built structure. The college is delighted to have been able to host such a motivated group, and proud to have a such a quality gazebo in the grounds.”