Cumbria Chamber of Commerce has said its secured 235 work placements for unemployed young people through the Kickstart Scheme, with hundreds more in the pipeline.

The Kickstart Scheme is a £2bn programme that provides funding to create job placements for 16-to-24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment.

The Government pays all of the national minimum wage for a minimum 25-hour week for six months, plus National Insurance and pension contributions.

Employers also receive £1,500 per placement.

As an approved 'gateway provider' by the Department for Work and Pensions, the Chamber has processed more than 700 placement applications, of with 235 approved so far.

Suzanne Caldwell, Managing Director of the Chamber said: “The response from Cumbrian employers has been tremendous, putting forward so many great opportunities for the county’s young people.

"These are real quality placements providing genuinely valuable opportunities to learn and gain experience, and help to get into longer term work either with that employer or elsewhere.”

To apply and for information email eve@cumbriachamber.co.uk