Heading into week three of the Haynes Mechanix course for young people and CAT catches up with Richard ‘Beef’ Frankland, Youth Services Manager at Prospex Youth Club to see how the programme is going.
“Take a small garage, an old fairly battered VW Polo, a group of young people from Prospex Youth Charity and amazing support from Haynes Manuals, London Youth, Draper Tools, a mentor from RM Training, mix them all together and you have the start of an exciting project known as Haynes Mechanix,” said Frankland.
“In 30 years of running youth work programmes I have never started a project that has been so well resourced and this has made an instant impact on the young people taking part, showing that people believe in them and are willing to invest time, money and energy in helping them achieve.
“Just a few days into the project it was clear that the group were really engaged and especially keen to get their hands dirty by working on the car.
“Their motivation? Some are thinking about careers in motor mechanics, others just want
to try something new or to learn how to fix a car for when they finally get their own.
“Already the group are dreaming about how the project can continue after the pilot scheme is complete, with thoughts of restoring the car to a level where it can be an exhibit at shows. So the young people can take pride in their work and have a great story to go with it.
“Whatever the final outcome of this project, one thing is sure and that is that each participant will have gained new skills, grown in confidence, received accreditation and boosted their CVs.”
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