Training opportunities for young people at Kirkstall Forge

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Young people are benefiting from work and training opportunities at the new Kirkstall Forge development in West Leeds.

Kirkstall Forge developers CEG has launched a partnership with the Leeds branch of social enterprise The Skill Mill by providing work and training opportunities for young people who have been involved with the Youth Offending Service.

The young people will work on tasks such as painting, clearing waterways, managing vegetation and materials management, learning valuable skills that will prepare them for further employment.

The team also participated in the post-flood clean up in early January, when CEG mobilised its workforce to help the community after the Boxing Day floods.

Jon Kenny, director of CEG, said:

“Kirkstall Forge is a really significant project in the area and the lads on site should feel proud of the role they’ve played in getting construction off the ground.”

The Skill Mill has been established in Leeds following a successful pilot in the north east of England. It is a unique, not for profit social enterprise which employs young people who have been involved with the Youth Offending Service aged 16-18 to carry out flood risk management, environmental, horticultural and watercourse management works.

The model aims to increase engagement, participation, employability and educational levels of the young people and move them closer to long term sustainable employment. It also leads to reduced re-offending, improved habitats and environments and increased community safety.

Kirkstall Forge development

Kirkstall Forge is one of the largest regeneration schemes and the most ambitious project in the north of England. £300m is programmed for investment in the site over the next five years, creating more than 2,400 new jobs and enabling almost 10,000 people to live and work on this site by 2020.

Work has already begun on a 15,534 sq m, seven storey office building that will form part of an office park, meeting demand for high quality flagship office space in Leeds, and further reserved matters planning applications will be submitted in the coming months for the first phase of residential development.

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