A Community Interest Company dedicated to helping young people develop vocational construction skills whilst breathing life back into community buildings, is supporting over 500 local young people.
Volunteer It Yourself (VIY), a Community Interest Company (CIC) is providing free work experience opportunities on projects transforming 23 local community spaces across Nottinghamshire.
It was granted £450,000 from the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund, in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council, which aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK, focused in three Government priority areas across the county.
VIY offers young people, principally those disengaged or excluded from mainstream education and training, at risk of disengagement, and/or unemployed, a range of free opportunities to learn trade skills, through hands-on tuition and support from experienced local tradespeople, whilst helping to fix local community spaces and places in need of improvement.
Since February, VIY has so far worked on six projects with Nottinghamshire County Council, with VIY boosting project funding through other partnerships including Sport England, Travis Perkins and Dulux.
Mansfield is one such priority area, receiving £150,000 of the funds granted by the county. Projects there include The Old Library, a Grade II listed building used by the Inspire Youth Arts team for community arts activities, receiving a makeover to its interior and community cafe, to celebrate its 25th anniversary and revitalise the venue ahead of a busy summer of arts activity and performance, working in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council.
Executive Mayor of Mansfield, Andy Abrahams, recently paid a visit to the venue on Leeming Street, Mansfield, where painting & decorating students from the Mansfield campus of Vision West Nottinghamshire College have been gaining work experience through VIY whilst transforming the iconic building in their hometown.
He said: "As a former teacher, I know that practical work experience is an invaluable part of learning. Working alongside local tradespeople will not only help develop their skills, but improve their confidence and inspire them to reach their full potential - hopefully leading to good quality employment. We want as many of our district's young people as possible to take advantage of free opportunities like this.
"I'm so pleased that community assets in Mansfield are also benefiting from this project - it really is a win-win for all involved."
Young volunteers are also joining through local networks such as Inspire, a cultural organisation who deliver arts and cultural services for the County Council through a network of over 60 libraries and venues including The Old Library.
Commenting on the impact of the investment and VIY’s work on the building so far, Sam Holgate-Davey Principal Arts Officer for Inspire Youth Arts, said: “It's been fantastic working with VIY and their young volunteers and mentors. The young people have worked extremely hard over the 2 weeks and have done a fantastic job rejuvenating the interior which was beginning to feel quite tired. It's been a great partnership effort and we are pleased that we have been able to play a part in supporting local young people to gain new skills and take their first steps on the ladder of a possible new career.”
As an official City & Guilds skills centre, the young volunteers have also earned Entry Level 3 construction skills accreditations with VIY, following tuition and mentoring by experienced tradespeople, along with support to help them to progress into further education, training or employment following their work on site, from trade partners including Travis Perkins, the UK’s largest builders merchant.
Daniel Sherwood, a young volunteer who heard about the opportunity for free work experience locally, whose ambition is to secure an apprenticeship in joinery, shared the impact of the project on him: “With me doing this now, I’m working on my painting and decorating [qualification] just so that I can get as many qualifications as I possibly can to succeed in finding an apprenticeship after this. Now I’ll go back and continue to get as much information and make as much progress as possible.”
Nottinghamshire County Council leader, Cllr Ben Bradley MP, said: “It’s great to hear that the funding which the county council helped secure is now benefiting those who really need it “Projects such as this one based at the iconic Old Library are helping give young people the work experience, confidence and job skills they need to give them a head start towards a better future."
Other projects in the priority areas have included Vibrant Warsop Methodist Church, Newark Amateur Boxing Club and Cuckney Cricket Club. The final 13 projects are in the pipeline across Mansfield and the two other priority areas in the county, Bassetlaw and Newark & Sherwood, with another five in progress in and around the city of Nottingham through additional funding from the UK Community Renewal Fund from Nottingham City Council.
If you know or work with young people, those not in employment, education or training, or at risk of disengagement, who would benefit from free work experience opportunities in the coming months, or if you’d like to be updated on current and upcoming projects in the area, please contact the team at outreach@teamviy.com.
Published on behalf of VIY.