Sheffield Homes supports City Stewardship scheme

Sixty-six people were presented with certificates for their role in the highly successful City Stewardship programme at an awards ceremony. City Stewardship helps 16 and 17 year olds who aren’t engaged in any type of learning or employment to gain valuable skills and experience in order to increase their opportunities to access mainstream training, education, and employment. Forty teams of young people are linked to Sheffield Homes area housing offices across the city.

 

The ceremony honoured those people who train and support the young people involved in City Stewardship. Thirty-three Open College Network certificates for mentoring, three level 3 NVQ certificates for learning and development, 13 certificates for mentoring skills and 17 certificates for the training of young people in the safe use of plant equipment were awarded.

 

Since it started in 1998 around 1200 trainees have been through the City Stewardship programme, and many now go on to become apprentices with Kier Sheffield LLP. The trainees undertake a variety of work depending on which team they are part of. This includes environmental work to improve the appearance of estates, gardening for elderly people, painting and decorating empty properties, fitting smoke alarms and fitting door and window locks and door chains as part of a crime reduction scheme.

 

In the last 12 months 152 trainees have been involved in City Stewardship. They have helped to maintain 3,000 elderly and disabled people’s gardens and decorated around 350 empty properties. They have completed around 2,400 environmental projects, that range from clearing sites, tidying gardens of vacant properties, litter picking, bring out your rubbish days, to bulb planting and installing motor cycling barriers

 

Isobel Riley, Director of Area Management at Sheffield Homes, said: "The City Stewardship programme is fantastic and has many benefits for young people, Sheffield Homes, and our tenants. Young people gain vital skills and work experience at the same time as making elderly and vulnerable people feel safer, and improving the appearance of our neighbourhoods. We receive many letters from tenants and residents about the good work done by the trainees. None of this would be possible without the people who provide the training and mentoring and it is great to be able to recognise their contribution."

 

Daniel Maher, Human Resources Manager of Kier Sheffield LLP, commented: "I am delighted as a founder member of City Stewardship to see it continue to be so successful and add real benefit to both the young people on the programme, and the local communities it serves. This awards ceremony recognises the hard work and commitment of the staff of Kier Sheffield that train and support these young people onto further education, training and employment."