BLACKBURN College is this week celebrating its involvement with local firms apprenticeship schemes.

It is delighted to make a contribution to cutting youth unemployment and making sure East Lancashire businesses get the young workers its needs.

The college currently has 900 apprentices in more than 40 course frameworks.

The students range from trainees at Star Tissue in Blackburn through to young chefs at Ribble Valley’s Stanley House hotel, to nursery nurses at St Mary’s College and gas engineers and bakery workers at Huntley’s in Samlesbury.

Former apprentice Tom Penney trained at the college and is now a football coach, while Mohammad Nadat’s advanced apprenticeship in motor vehicle maintenance won him a job with Land Rover in Florida, USA.

Blackburn College business development officer Sandra Martland said: “We regard preparing people for work by training and apprenticeships with and for local companies as crucially important. It prepares learners for the real world of work, allowing them to experience direct engagement with employers in a realistic working environment.

“They build confidence and motivation and raise learners self-esteem, improve their communication skills and promote an understanding of what employers are looking for in regards of attitude and personality.”

Jennifer Smith, from Longridge, recently completed a Level 5 NVQ Diploma in Management and works as a Service Desk Manager at MITIE PFI Limited.

She said: ‘I manage our service desk team, responsible for providing world-class customer service to clients at over a hundred schools and health centres nationwide. The apprenticeship scheme is a great way to further develop the skills I use every day”.