Carlisle United Community Sports Trust’s Traineeships gave Aidan the opportunity to “love being in work.”
Carlisle United are at the forefront of helping young people find meaningful employment. The Club’s charity, the CUFC Community Sport Trust, runs a very successful 12 weeks Traineeship programme which equips young people with the crucial skills and experience to able to get on the first rung of the employment ladder.
There are countless reasons why some young people don’t do well at school and leave the education system with little or no qualifications. This can often be accompanied by low self-esteem and a lack of confidence. This, in turn, makes it difficult for them to find any kind of employment or even get the work experience needed to get a job, which can cause their self-esteem to drop even lower. A traineeships breaks this vicious circle. Run at many Football Clubs across the country Traineeships are key stepping stone that help people who are not currently in education, employment or training find work.
The 12-week course are designed to develop key employability skill and also provide valuable work experience. Based at a Football Club, the trainee will be supported by a mentor and who will address their specific needs so that at the end of the 12-weeks they are ready find work and thrive in the workplace.
That was very much the story for Aidan Brown, a trainee on Carlisle United latest cohort of the programme. On completion of the 12-week course Aidan has successfully gained employment, and simply said “I now love being in the world of work.”
Aidan fully embraced the opportunities the traineeship had to offer and worked hard to develop the skills needed for the work place. As part of the work placement, the Trust secured a 12-week customer service role at VR Gateway. Aidan excelled in this role, taking part in various roadshows across the city and wider communities.
Aidan’s polite, calming nature shone through, and the organisation received some great feedback on Aidan’s professionalism and impeccable manners.
Ian Irving, director of the VR Gateway said, “Aidan’s work ethic, overall positive attitude, and professionalism has been a credit to the team. He has conducted himself well, and performed admirably in some challenging and new situations.”
Aidan also volunteered with the community coaches at CUFC CST working alongside coaches in various primary schools, again his work ethic was outstanding. On completing the traineeship Aidan gained employment at Carlisle Youth Zone as a youth worker.
Aidan explained, “The traineeship programme helped me to establish what career path I wanted to pursue, the work placement elements helped me to secure my decision and guide me in the right direction. Teresa helped me with my application/planning an activity session as part of the interview process for the youth worker position at the youth zone.”
Teresa Mulholland-Traineeship Co-Ordinator. Commented, “We are immensely proud of Aidan, his work ethic and commitment to the programme has been outstanding. Aidan will be a great asset to Carlisle Youth Zone and this just shows what can happen if you give a young person like Aidan an opportunity.”
