Helping young people
Our program currently has two streams of trainees:
1. Full-time paid trainees training with us on the Real Living Wage. (see below)
2. Introduction sessions with young people on a voluntary basis.
(This will cover a site visit, cooking in the kitchen and employability and wellbeing help)
To qualify for our paid trainee program you must be not in education or employment, be between the ages of 18-24 years old and living in Thanet. If you meet these criteria please contact us.
Paid employabilty trainee program (16 weeks)
(from Februaury 2024)
WEEKS 1-4.
For the first four weeks the trainees will work 16 hours a week. This is a gentle introduction to employaybility in order to focus on creating work habits, learning essential work skills and assessing the needs of each trainee through monitoring and evaluation. The first four weeks will mainly be based in the training kitchen with two site visits to widen horizons.
WEEKS 5-8.
The second set of four weeks will consist of four 24-hour weeks. Gradually increasing the working week in order to set new habits. We will visit a different business in the food chain each week to see if there is a desire to investigate a route into work they may be interested in.
Ongoing sessions on employability and wellbeing, stress management, applications, interviews and CV writing.
WEEKS 9-12.
This module of four weeks will focus on specialising in the trainees preferred industry, or if still unsure they have the option of trialing more work placements. The trainees will now be working 32 hour weeks. The training kitchen is still used as a hub of employability and wellbeing. This is where we can assess job specific training.
WEEKS 12-16.
The final four weeks will focus on finding long-term sustainable employment. Networking, trial shifts and preparation to move away from The Perfect Place to Grow. This is where we will work closely with the employer whilst still being paid and supported by The Perfect Place to Grow.
We understand that some trainees may not be ready to move into employment elsewhere after 16 weeks and so they will be fully supported by us until they feel ready to do so.
Regular accreditions:
Training sessions will be held throughout the whole program in collaboration with KCC in order to gain recognised accreditation in Food Hygiene, COSHH, First Aid and Allergens.