Sackers Recycling has taken on three young adults after a group of five attended two weeks’ work experience via the Inspire Suffolk’s Step Up programme.
The programme is designed to provide young people between 16-24 years with the opportunity to gain industry-related training and qualifications. This is their stepping stone into employment by adding experience and skills they can use to apply for jobs.
Out of the five who got their certificate, Sackers has now employed three of them.
Tyler, who is 20 will be working in the metal shed, learning about metal types and dealing with customers who bring their metal waste in, said: “I had confidence that if I worked hard I might get a position here which I’m really pleased about.”
Ryan, 21 will be on the picking line on the metal shredder, sorting metals. And Dani, 20 years will go on to a Level 3 apprenticeship.
Five young adults completed the full course after they had achieved training at Sackers. This included the Sackers Think Smart plan which covers theory in health and safety, asbestos awareness, hand protection and eye protection, combined with practical training in the yard.
The practical training covered dealing with end-of-life vehicles, which involved depolluting them, removing fluids like oil, petrol, water and stripping wheels, catalytic converters and batteries. They also had training in the metal shed.
Kevin Harrington, the compliance manager who was overseeing the training, said: “This was very new to us, and it was more successful than we could have ever expected it to be. We had a good calibre of students all willing to learn and were reliable and engaged. I was really impressed.”
Adrian Dodds, Sackers managing director, said: “Recruiting is hard at the moment, so it’s important that we invest in giving these young adults opportunities to grow and support them into careers. We are lucky that we have a varied business that allowed them to try different areas and we could see where their skills were.”
Garry Mills, the education programme’s manager, added: “We have run many of these courses in different sectors, but this is the first time we’ve delivered a waste training programme. Sackers has worked closely with us to deliver great training for those on the two weeks’ experience. We are so proud of what these students have achieved and couldn’t ask for a better outcome.”
