The Lattice Group is training young offenders and people
with educational problems to meet skills shortages in the company.
Lattice, the parent body for Transco, provides opportunities
for young people who are likely to be excluded from school, to receive training
at two of its bases. As part of its corporate social responsibility programme
it also trains young offenders in Reading Prison as gas fitters and forklift
drivers.
Mary Harris, the director of the Lattice Foundation, the
social responsibility arm of the company, said as well as providing
opportunities for these young people, the initiative has also proved valuable
for the company.
She said: "We have a responsibility and interest in our
own supply chain and we also need to provide a skilled and motivated
workforce."
In the Lattice CRED scheme for pupils aged 14 to 16,
students spend three days at a learning centre in the Reading premises. The
other two weekdays are spent on year-long work placements the students select
from a wide range of industries.
From the latest intake, 13 per cent are going on to college
or the sixth-form, just under 30 per cent have been offered traineeships, and
47 per cent have gone into full-time work.
The scheme was so successful the company has replicated the
model within the group’s Transco offices in Peterborough.
Training of young offenders has also been successful, with
only 6 per cent of those trained re-offending, compared to a normal rate of
about 70 per cent.
