Opportunity for young people to learn valuable life skills

Volunteer It Yourself (VIY), who challenge young people to regenerate community spaces whilst learning new vocational skills, are looking for people aged 16 – 24 in Newark and Sherwood to take part in one of their projects.

By taking part, young people will gain on-the-job construction training, new vocational skills and mentoring support from professional tradespeople. They will also receive City and Guilds Entry Level 3 accreditations in construction skills and support with further training, work placement and apprenticeship opportunities.

VIY is looking to offer this opportunity to local youth groups, charities, youth organisations, schools and colleges in Newark and Sherwood who work with young people who are not engaged in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET.

Confirmed VIY projects in Newark and Sherwood include:

• March: Newark Amateur Boxing Club (aka Suggy's Gym) – a family ethos club supporting the VIY mission to help local young people. VIY will be redecorating the interior of the boxing gym, redoing an alleyway and making useful changes to the back area of the boxing gym. 
• April: Farnsfield Cricket Club – the club has started a girls team; however, they do not have a changing room for them. Therefore, VIY is converting a current storage room into a girls changing room. This will involve a safety floor, repainting, benches and hooks. VIY will also be refreshing some of the other changing rooms and bathrooms with a repaint. The project aims to increase access to ladies' cricket.

More projects in Newark and Sherwood will be confirmed in due course.

Those interested can get in touch by emailing tess@teamviy.com.

Councillor David Lloyd, Leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “I am delighted that the young people in the district have an opportunity to get involved in such an important initiative. By taking part in one of VIYs projects, young people of our community who are disengaged from mainstream schooling will be able to gain vital skills, experiences and qualifications, allowing them to find a meaningful career that they will enjoy and find fulfilling.

“I highly encourage any youth group, or young person, who may feel they can benefit from a VIY project to get in touch with the team.”

Volunteer It Yourself combines DIY and volunteering by helping young people learn vocational trade skills whilst helping repair and refurbish community facilities. VIY are a recipient of the Community Renewal Fund grant designed to invest in communities, young people and boost skills and are running 23 projects across Nottinghamshire County in 2022.

Tim Reading, CEO of VIY: “We're delighted to see young people, skills and employability outcomes recognised across this fund, three things at the heart of our VIY mission, and we're delighted to be delivering on these priorities on local community projects, working directly with young people, communities and people in the trade across Nottinghamshire.”

More information about VIY can be found: https://volunteerityourself.org/.