Mark's mission to spread the word on apprenticeships across Teesdale

THE benefits of apprenticeships to both employers and trainees are being outlined across the dale.
Darlington College is offering advice to rural employers about the advantages apprentices can bring to their businesses.
Business development adviser Mark Thorpe will be hosting the fortnightly drop-in sessions at Enterprise House on Harmire Enterprise Park, in Barnard Castle.
Mr Thorpe, who is also a qualified careers adviser, is hoping to shed the light on alternative routes of study without the need for university.
He said: “We are going to be concentrating on the dales including Teesdale, Swaledale and Weardale.
“Barnard Castle is in the catchment area of the college. We want to develop links with rural businesses and understand their needs.
“We are already working with Glaxo but we also want to start looking at smaller businesses and see how we can help them.
“It is all about creating those opportunities and then we can start working with the potential apprentices.”
Mr Thorpe will be on hand from 8.30am until 12.30pm every other Tuesday to guide employers through the steps to acquiring a suitable apprentice.
“This includes advertising and promoting the vacancy, recruitment services to ensure the correct apprentice is hired, assessment and qualification training as well as organising a personal assessor who would be contracted to each apprentice.
Mr Thorpe said: “I have got an understanding of the dales and the challenges faced here running small businesses.
“In this area tourism is huge and the opportunities are fantastic. We want to help people to stay and work where they were born and bred.”
Darlington College offers a range of apprenticeships for anyone over the age of 16 regardless of whether they have just left school or are unemployed. Qualifications range from business administration, childcare and design to construction, catering, engineering and hair and beauty.
Information is also being provided at the sessions about funding and grant incentives which are available to help with the training costs of an apprentice.
Mr Thorpe said: “People are interested but quite often they don’t understand what it is all about. Anyone who is interested in apprenticeships including potential apprentices can come along for some advice and guidance.
“It is also open for parents who want to know more about the different options for their children.
“It is about giving people another option. We also need to network with the local schools and look at how we get the message across that there are opportunities in the local area.
“If someone comes to us with a certain type of apprenticeship in mind, we will actively try and hunt down an employer. We already have a database of employers who we can approach and we are hoping to build on this in this area.”
From January Mr Thorpe also hopes to run a work experience programme in the area which will hopefully see dale businesses offering work experience for students studying at Darlington College.
For more information contact Mr Thorpe on 01325 503210 or 07484 500691.