The latest programme from Live Train, which will provide a group of people from the Ashmole Estate and the Lambeth area with the skills and opportunities to get back into long term employment, has launched after a successful trade taster day to recruit the next 10 trainees for the scheme.

Live Train was created to provide local people with the skills and the opportunities to get work in construction and maintenance through SDP Solutions and partner Rydon, who are currently refurbishing the Ashmole Estate for Metropolitan, as well as its wider supply chain.


The taster day enabled candidates to get a sense of the activities that would be covered in the full 12 week programme. Each of them was guided through an interview and selection process to choose the final 10 that will be taken through the programme.

The programme is run three times a year and comprises an eight week course at Anchor House, an award winning life skills centre in East London, which has the facilities to provide the skills needed as well as the all-important CSCS card - essential for anyone seeking work on a construction site. The remaining weeks are based on a Rydon site, after which Live Train offers the graduates advice and assists them in finding the right employment opportunity.

Steve Blake, Refurbishment Director at Rydon, commented: "What Live Train does is to give people the opportunity to learn trade skills, get formally qualified and gain exposure to a national contractor and its supply chain. This is a scheme that will make a long-term difference to people's lives and we are excited to have the 10 trainees on board as part of our work on the Ashmole Estate."

(CD/GK)