A CHARITY which provides employment and training for unemployed and disadvantaged young people will be able to double its operations thanks to a grant from The Northern Echo's parent company.
East Cleveland Youth Housing Trust, based in Skinningrove, has been awarded £10,000 by the Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the paper’s owners.
The grant will go towards a new van, allowing the charity to employ more apprentices and increase the number of community projects it can take on. The trust buys and renovates run-down properties, employing apprentices to do construction work while training in their chosen trade. The buildings are then let as affordable homes for vulnerable 18 to 29-year-olds in housing need.
Loading article content
A tenancy support worker provides one-to-one support to help tenants become more independent. Renovation and maintenance work is also carried out in village halls and community buildings.
Andy Petterson, the trust’s social business manager, said the £10,000 grant would make a huge difference to the charity. “We’ll be able to buy a brand-new van with more than enough room for an entire second team, which means more people being given training and employment in the area,” he said.
The trust has grown steadily over the last 20 years in an area which has a high number of school leavers not in employment, education or training. It currently has three apprentices working at a property in Skelton, and recently completed a major project to convert the former Crown hotel on Brotton High Street into four flats.
Hannah Chapman, the Echo's deputy editor, visited the charity to present the cheque.
She said: “The work done by East Cleveland Youth Housing Trust in providing long term solutions to training, employment and housing issues for young people is brilliant, and we are thrilled to be able to support such a worthwhile cause.”