Lincolnshire Co-op is helping fund apprenticeships for staff at a local charity to help them develop their careers.
Businesses that pay the government’s apprenticeship levy can donate up to 25% of the annual value of funds to other organisations to use for training their staff.
Lincolnshire Co-op has chosen to donate its 25% to YMCA Lincolnshire, which provides a range of support, services and facilities within the county. These include accommodation and housing support, youth engagement and alternative education provision.
The society donated £18,000 of its levy to fund apprenticeships for Janet Kirk, who is studying for a Level 4 apprenticeship in professional accounting, and Rachael Diaz, who will work towards becoming a Level 2 property maintenance operative from February 2020.
Resourcing manager Matt Brown said: “As an ethical consumer co-operative, one of our main focuses is to support people in our community. So it’s fantastic to be able to share our levy to help people personally better themselves – and to create added value for local organisations, community groups and charities.
“We’re very excited to be supporting YMCA Lincolnshire as it provides a wide range of much-needed services. We run a number of apprenticeship schemes at Lincolnshire Co-op so we know how valuable they can be in terms of developing talented people who are either just beginning or furthering their careers.”
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A further four apprenticeships at the YMCA are being sponsored by Frontier Agriculture, which has headquarters in Witham St Hughs near Lincoln.
All six are studying their apprenticeships with Lincoln College and assessors will check in with them on a regular basis, offering tailored support throughout.
Corporate services director for YMCA Lincolnshire, Michael Ward, said: “We’re so grateful to these companies for helping to fund quality training which we wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford as a charitable organisation.”
