YOUNG people are to get work experience by helping a village hall undergo a deep clean and some vital repairs in anticipation of its reopening after the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Trades4Care project works by offering young people in college, or those who come from a care background, an opportunity to be mentored by qualified tradesmen and gain valuable experience.
Scarth Memorial Hall, in Staindrop, has called on the community interest company (CIC) to make repairs after a water leak, carry out some much-needed joinery work and for a general deep clean.
Andrew Coxon, from Trades4Care, visited the hall last week to steam clean its 138 chairs, with the main team arriving on May 25 to carry out the repairs. He said experience young people can get includes painting and decorating, joinery, plumbing and deep cleaning.
He added: “Colleges struggle to find work placements [for their students] so we help with that. We also try to get people from a care background to get into college.”
Before starting a project like the one at Scarth Hall, the young people attend an induction session where they meet the tradesmen and learn about work practices and health and safety.
The following day they meet the client and learn how to take measurements and about costs and pricing structures.
Projects are usually completed over a five-day period, Mr Coxon said. Scarth Hall committee member Ed Chicken said the scheme fits well with the hall’s ethos of engaging with young people and the disabled.
He added: “Our first thought was, ‘is this is the sort of thing we want to support’?”
Until now the committee has struggled to find a time to do the work that is needed.
Mr Chicken said: “Our problem was how to get work done because the hall is so busy.
“We now have the downtime, so when we open after the lockdown everything that can be done will be done.”
