Building a career for local women

(Date of issue: Friday, 16 January 2009)

A celebration of learning will be held next Monday (19 January), to mark the end of Carlisle’s first ever construction course for young women.

A special event at Carlisle College has been organised to congratulate the ten women who took part in the project. In addition to achieving a Key Skills qualification in Improving Own Learning and Performance, they will be presented with a toolkit, sponsored by Carlisle Housing Association, to reward their participation and be given IKEA vouchers to spend on their visit there later this month.

Aimed at young women aged between 16 and 19 years old, the specialist training was put in place as stepping stone to a new career. The project started in November with the group attending Carlisle College for six Mondays before Christmas. Free childcare was provided at Greystone Community Centre on these days.

Visits to Dunelm and a Story show home have also been arranged to look at soft furnishings and how rooms are laid out. A visit to IKEA has also been organised for later on this month.

A partnership between Connexions Cumbria, Carlisle College, Construction Skills, Carlisle Housing Association, Story Construction and Carlisle City Council put the scheme in place. It aimed to give young women an introduction to interior design and for them to learn basic construction skills including painting and decorating, tiling and carpentry.