Growing charity worker careers

Lincolnshire Co-op is helping fund apprenticeships for staff at a local charity – helping them to develop their careers and progress.

Businesses that pay the Government’s apprenticeship levy can donate up to 25 per cent of the annual value of funds to other organisations to use for training their staff.

Lincolnshire Co-op chose YMCA Lincolnshire, which provides a range of support, services and facilities within the county, including accommodation and housing support, pioneering youth engagement, alternative education provision and much more.

The Society donated £18K of its levy to fund apprenticeships for Janet Kirk, who is studying for a Level 4 apprenticeship in Professional Accounting, and Rachael Diaz, who will work towards becoming a Level 2 Property Maintenance Operative when she enrols in February 2020.

Resourcing Manager Matt Brown said: “As an ethical consumer co-operative one of our main focuses is to support people in our community, so being able to share our levy to help people personally better themselves and create added value for local organisations, community groups and charities is fantastic.

“We’re very excited to be supporting YMCA Lincolnshire as it provides a wide range of much-needed services.

“We run a number of apprenticeship schemes at Lincolnshire Co-op so we know how valuable they can be in terms of developing talented people who are either just beginning or furthering their careers.”

A further four apprenticeships are being sponsored by Frontier Agriculture, which has headquarters in Witham St Hughs near Lincoln.

All six are studying their apprenticeships with Lincoln College and assessors will check in with them on a regular basis, offering tailored support throughout.

Corporate Services Director for YMCA Lincolnshire Michael Ward said: “We’re so grateful to these companies for helping to fund quality training which we wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford as a charitable organisation.”