£100,000 drive to 
create jobs for young people

The £100,000 scheme aims to create new jobs for unemployed young people in Hambleton in a move which it is hoped will help bolster the rural economy and give jobs opportunities to young people to help them on the employment ladder.

It also aims to help smaller firms take on new staff to boost their business.

Council bosses hope that the move could reduce unemployment rates among 16 to 24-year-olds in the district by as much as a quarter.

Hambleton District Council has joined forces with Northallerton’s Job Centre and the National Apprentice Scheme to bring new opportunities to some of the unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds in the district.

The authority’s Changing Lives Building Business initiative will support up to 15 apprenticeships with small Hambleton-based businesses, as well as offering a wage subsidy scheme, where the district council will provide a cash pot to pay 50 per cent of the wages of 15 young people for six months.

The district council will also be employing a pool of 15 apprentices within its own departments.

The project was launched at the Northallerton Jobs Fair, held recently, which saw 350 young people meet local employers and training providers to learn about the local vacancies on offer as well as information on the Hambleton schemes.

Coun Neville Huxtable, the leader of the district council who is the brainchild of the scheme, said last night that he hopes the launch of the project will help give those young people who leave school believing they won’t find a job a chance to look ahead with greater confidence.

Coun Huxtable said: “We hope that this groundbreaking plan will help the economy of the district – by creating new jobs for some of the young unemployed as well as helping smaller businesses bring in extra staff to boost their businesses.

“Many young people leave school and have no hope of a job – and no future to look forward to.

“Through this groundbreaking scheme we are going to help some of them into employment – reducing the unemployment levels for this age group by around 25 per cent and at the same time helping to boost the local economy.”

The scheme launch saw Crathorne-based joinery business GM Joinery Services, which is run by Garry Malkin, sign up for an apprentice.

Mr Malkin was himself an apprentice and wanted to get involved to be able to pass on the same benefits he received when he was young to another youngster from Hambleton.

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