A much-loved Tees-based centre that provides a whole range of activities for adults with learning difficulties has been given a helping hand by a team of local unemployed young people.
The group of 12, from Middlesbrough and Redcar who are aged between 16 and 25 and taking part in a Prince’s Trust Team programme designed to help them gain new skills, earn a qualification and meet new people, were welcomed with open arms at Yatton House in Great Ayton.
They brought with them paint and equipment purchased with the help of a £2000 grant from the Community Support Fund set up by Tata Steel business-support subsidiary UKSE and set to work. The room they refurbished and decorated will now be used for one-to-one meetings.
The 12-week Prince’s Trust Team Programmes, delivered by the Education Training Collective, include a work placement, help with job interviews and a residential week as well as a chosen Community Project.
Yatton House, set up in 1981, has helped hundreds of adults with learning difficulties, providing a place where they can enjoy a wide range of activities and learning opportunities from sport, drama, digital skills and singing to dance, cookery, fitness and horticulture.
Jonathan Stephenson of the Yatton House Society said: “The team has worked really hard and we are delighted to have this room in full use again and looking so good. We are very grateful to them for choosing us as their community project and to UKSE for the funding.”
The Society’s current fund-raising campaign has also had support from sources including local businesses and parents and Phase 1 of its refurbishment project was opened by Rishi Sunak in 2019.
UKSE Regional Manager Sarah Thorpe said: “We have been involved with The Prince’s Trust programmes for a long time now and have seen the results that they bring.
“Not only do they help unemployed young people in Teesside into employment or further education and training but the community projects they deliver support a large number of organisations that do so much valuable work in our local communities.”
