Published at 16:11, Thursday, 27 September 2012

A SCHEME to help youngsters into work is being piloted in Furness – after a project founder in China drew comparisons between Hong Kong and Barrow.

NEW PROJECT: At Drop Zone; (from left) project manager, Sue Johnson; youth and community worker, Mel McAteer; and youth club member, Paul Cochrane, 19HARRY ATKINSON REF: 50038985B006

British solicitor Duncan Jepson set up Project Share to empower young people living in deprived villages in the shadows of Hong Kong’sprosperous business centre, where he works.

And he has helped set up a UK version of the scheme in Barrow, after he saw a TV programme about a youth club in the town.

Barrow’s Drop Zone youth club featured heavily in the Secret Millionaire programme, featuring Rob Calcraft, broadcast Barrow to a national audience on Channel 4 in 2009. The show, which highlighted how Barrow’s geographical isolation can be an obstacle to career aspirations, was recently televised in Hong Kong.

Mr Jepson saw the show in Hong Kong, and decided to get in touch with Drop Zone, because his scheme in Hong Kong seeks to tackle the same issues of how mobility between different socio-economic groups is becoming more difficult to bridge.

Project Share aims to get deprived youngsters in Hong Kong into the working world through internships. And now Mr Jepson has provided a £1,000 start-up fund for a Barrow version – which could be expanded if a pilot scheme is successful. Drop Zone project manager Sue Johnson, who met Mr Jepson when he visited the youth club in Cornwallis Street, Barrow, this summer, said: “He’s very interested in social movement and how where you’re born affects your chances, and Barrow has sparked his interest. He doesn’t want anything out of it. He’s just interested in how where you are affects your life chances.”

The pilot involves Drop Zone acting as a ‘broker’ between youngsters and employers willing to give them an opportunity to complete short spells of work experience, so they have something to put on their CV. The work experience will focus on basic skills, such as keeping to a schedule and having a conversation with new people. Mrs Johnson said the idea is to get disadvantaged youngsters “away from the norm” and raise their aspirations.

Paul Cochrane, 19, of New Street, Barrow, has attended Drop Zone for several years after he left school in year eight. Now a ‘peer educator’ at the youth club, he has a talent for leading sports activities and would like to gain experience in that field through Project Share.

He said: “Drop Zone stopped me from getting drunk and kept me off the streets and away from the wrong people. Hopefully this could give me a boost and help me get going.”

Employers who would like to get involved can contact Drop Zone on 01229 812888.

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