Food And Drink Sector Routeway Training Programme hopes to encourage young people to the industry (From York Press)

Food And Drink Sector Routeway Training Programme hopes to encourage young people to the industry

12:21pm Monday 6th September 2010 in

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FOOD and drink manufacturers in Yorkshire are being invited to have their say on shaping a new training programme aimed at getting more young people working in the industry.

Improve, the York-based food and drink sector skills council, has secured Government backing to develop a Food And Drink Sector Routeway Training Programme, in a bid to tackle the shortage of school leavers opting for a career in food and drink.

The two or eight-week programme will be funded through the Young Person’s Guarantee, a scheme run by the Department for Work and Pensions, which guarantees training and employment opportunities to 18 to 24-year-olds who have been unemployed for six months or more.

Improve is now inviting employers to come forward to join a steering group which will oversee the development of the programme to ensure it is relevant to the needs of the industry.

Justine Fosh, director of skills solutions for Improve and the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing, said: “The industry needs more young people coming into it because its workforce is ageing, and we are anticipating a high demand for new recruits to replace those who retire or otherwise leave the industry over the coming years – about 17,000 job places in Yorkshire and Humberside alone by 2017.”

The plan was at an early stage, she said. “But what is so promising about it is that it will not just be about getting young people off the unemployment list. We will be developing high-quality training aimed at preparing them for long-term employment and fulfilling the skills needs of the companies they work for.”

If you would like to get involved in shaping the Food and Drink Sector Routeway Training Programme, email Liz Pattison at L.Pattison@foodanddrink.nsacademy.co.uk

For further information, go to improve-skills.co.uk