Wrekin Kickstarting job creation

Opportunities are being created for at least 45 paid work placements at The Wrekin Housing Group over the next 12 months. Young people, aged 16 – 24 years, who are currently claiming Universal Credit, can access the opportunities as part of the government’s Kickstart programme.

The programme, launched as part of the covid-recovery plan, provides funding to create job placements with employers of all sizes.

Placements are being offered across all parts of the Wrekin organisation, from customer services to catering, maintenance to money matters and care to communications. The six month long placements provide the opportunity of gaining real world work experience, learning new skills, growing together and will ultimately make a difference to people’s lives.

Jan Lycett, Executive Director of Business Solutions said, “We are delighted to have had our Kickstart programme approved and we look forward to welcoming young people into our organisation to learn new skills and gain work experience. As a major employer we are pleased to be able to offer these opportunities and see these placements as potential stepping stones towards apprenticeships and permanent employment. We are keen that as many local young people, including our customers, get the chance to apply, so if you are interested please contact your DWP work coach as soon as possible.”

Ben Vaughan,  Employer Manager for DWP in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin said “We are really excited that the Kickstart vacancies with our partners at The Wrekin Housing Group are now available for our work coaches to promote with their younger jobseekers. They will be creating roles across Telford, Shrewsbury and Oswestry and offering a broad range of positions throughout the Group. This will allow many younger jobseekers with different career aspirations and varied skillsets to gain their first paid work experience. They have also taken a very innovative approach to the scheme by creating a number of home working vacancies that will allow eligible jobseekers with suitable connectivity to participate in the scheme from their own home, increasing opportunity for those living in rural areas and during the lockdown period.”

The first placements will start in March and anyone interested needs to contact their Job Centre Work Coach to get the details. Applications can only be accepted through referrals from the Job Centre.