Government jobs initiative helps Melanie and Aimee kickstart careers

Two young people from Lancashire have moved into permanent careers after starting work through a Government jobs incentive (@phxtraining).

Melanie Chapman and Aimee Cross have both been hired after a successful six-month Kickstart placement with leading North West training provider PHX Training.

After completing their six-month placements earlier this year, both employees impressed enough to earn a permanent job, Aimee as an administrator and Melanie as a work coach, both at the Blackpool office on Lytham Road.

Both jobs involve Melanie and Aimee supporting other people in Lancashire to complete qualifications and find work, while the two employees themselves are also benefitting from a range of work-based learning to help them improve their own job skills.

Aimee is completing her qualifications in Business Administration Level 2 and Information, Advice and Guidance at Level 2, while Melanie has completed her Level 2 in Information, Advice and Guidance.

In total, PHX Training has taken on 15 Kickstart placements so far, while the Government recently announced over 100,000 people across the country have been taken on by the work placement scheme.

Briony Fawcett, Managing Director of PHX Training, said:

“As a training provider aimed at helping people to find work, I’m really proud of the way that we have supported Melanie and Aimee to find stable employment which allows them to work in a job they enjoy and are supported to succeed in.

“Both have shown a real appetite to be back in work and are a fantastic example of the way the Kickstart programme can help people get back into jobs where they can impress and start a new career for themselves.”

The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to employers to create new six-month job placements for young people who are on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. PHX Training, which has centres across Lancashire and Cumbria, is officially accredited by the government as a gateway provider of the Kickstart scheme and can work with companies across the North West to help them process Kickstart placements and claim the government funding for the scheme.

Employers can continue to benefit from the Kickstart scheme until March, providing they submit an application by Friday 17 December, with companies receiving funding for six-month placements for young people under the age of 24, as well as additional training and funding for equipment.