Proud trainees get reward for learning (From Stroud News and Journal)

Proud trainees get reward for learning

A STROUD charity is celebrating after notching up an impressive clutch of awards for its students in just two years.

Trainees with the Five Valleys Foyer successfully gained certificates in literacy and numeracy.

The total is quite an achievement as the initiative, based at Stroud's Painswick Inn Project, has only been running for two years and the work can take students up to six months to complete.

Dave Wilson, basic skills tutor at the Foyer, said all the trainees who have taken part have increased their reading and writing skills tremendously.

"In some cases these are young people who didn't complete their schooling, while others just needed the higher level of one-to-one support that we are able to provide here," he said.

"For several, this has been the first certificate that they have ever received. "It's just another way that we can show that these youngsters are improving their skills and their self-confidence."

The Foyer currently has around 17 trainees working though its entry to employment scheme, which offers young people aged from 16-21 the opportunity to improve their employment skills.

It also has around a dozen people completing NVQs in its music courses based in the project's recording studio.