Young people from SASH get a taste for Automotive, Construction & Engineering

A group of young people from SASH have spent the day with staff from Scarborough TEC where they have tried a range of hands-on activities aimed at giving them skills for life.

SASH is a youth charity that works across York, North and East Yorkshire to support young people aged 16-25 who are facing homelessness. Adele Coupe, Operations Manager for SASH, explained how the young people would benefit from the sessions: “Often young people come to us and don’t have an idea of what they want to do. They’ve been taught different skills that they can use at home when they are living independently or it might be something that they continue with in education.”

Jai Campbell, Scarborough TEC’s Programme Leader for Construction added: “We have previously worked with SASH supporting a young person who hadn’t been in mainstream education for quite some time.

“SASH then approached us about offering a taster in different trades and we have set up sessions in Automotive, Brickwork, Carpentry & Joinery, Electrical Installation and Plumbing aimed at offering some basic skills that can be used at home in each of those areas. It’s been fantastic having them with us today and giving them an insight into college life.”

SASH’s Young Persons’ Coordinator, Tiffany Wilkey, explained how important the sessions would be for the young people in the future: “We have figured out that young people living in difficult circumstances don’t get the key skills or an idea how to do the basic things at home.  We want all of our young people to succeed and go on to independent living and therefore we encourage them to try new things and have new experiences.

“We got talking to Jai and we realised that we could offer an opportunity that would raise their aspirations and give them the key skills that will save them money and enable them to fix things themselves. It’s been brilliant for them to try different trades and find out what goes on at Scarborough TEC.”