A GROUP of 15 young people have have taken part in a scheme to gain work experience while giving back to their community at RAF Benson.
The Youth Credit Scheme, which was piloted in 2019, provides young people aged between 12 and 17 with the opportunity to earn Amazon vouchers in return for volunteering for 10 sessions of community work. Activities include weeding, planting, painting and jet washing, with successful participants also receiving a letter of recommendation from the station commander.
The 2020 scheme was due to launch earlier this year, thanks to a donation from CALA Homes of £600; but it was put on hold due to lockdown.
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Meg Wickett, community development officer at RAF Benson, said: “Young people living on the station have few opportunities to earn money and gain valuable work experience early on in life. With support from both the station and the armed forces charity SSAFA we were able to fund the initial pilot scheme, but support from CALA meant it was able to run again this year.
She added: “Being able to provide this opportunity for our young people was even more important than ever given the challenges we’ve all faced over the last few months, so we’re really grateful to CALA.”
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