HUNDREDS of youngsters and parents attended York’s big apprenticeship recruitment event at the council’s West Offices headquarters.

This year more than 500 people were there to find out about more than 100 apprenticeship vacancies across the city offered by more than 40 employers at an event coordinated by City of York Council’s York apprenticeship hub team.

The event, highlighted both the individual benefits of pursuing an apprenticeship job with training and the business benefits of hiring apprentices.

This year the event organiser was 23-year-old Melody Hardcastle, herself a former apprentice with City of York Council.

Melody studied at York College and after deciding not to go down the university route, undertook a communications and marketing apprenticeship with the council. Three years on she has her Level 3 marketing qualification and said she loved talking to people on the day.

She said: “It’s great because I have had such a positive experience from doing an apprenticeship. You don’t have to come out of university with £40,000 worth of debt - it’s a no brainer.”

It provide an opportunity for young people aged 16-24 and their parents or carers, to meet with recruiting employers and to find out about alternative routes to Level 3 qualifications and university.

As well as the chance to speak to employers, training providers and current apprentices the event also offered the opportunity for young people to book one-to-one advice sessions on CVs, job searching, interviews and the different options available.

Employers at the event included City of York Council, Portakabin, Siemens, PureNet, Nestlé, Aviva, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Mariott, York College, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, FERA and Network Rail. They were either to fill vacancies or shared information on their apprenticeship schemes.

For more information about information on apprenticeships go to york.apprenticeships@york.gov.uk call 01904 551971 or visit the York Apprenticeships page on Facebook.