Cumbria Chamber of Commerce has launched a Kickstart placement vacancy page to help young people into work.

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.

Cumbria Chamber acts as an approved Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) gateway provider.

The Government-subsidised scheme provide100 percent of the National Minimum Wage for a minimum 25-hour week for six months, plus National Insurance and pension contributions.

Almost 400 placements have now been approved by DWP, with around 50 young people now in in work.The list of placements on the Chamber website is not large but can give an insight into the range of roles offered by businesses throughout the county. It will be updated regularly with new roles.

Roles available on the Chamber website are for information purposes only and young people must apply through their local job centre and speak directly to their work coach.

Suzanne Caldwell, Managing Director of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, said: “A tremendous number of employers around the county have come up with some genuinely fabulous opportunities for young people. What we’re really keen to do now is to get more young people into those opportunities.I’d really encourage everyone to share this with everyone they know and get as many young people on Universal Credit as we can taking advantage of this. Many of the employers do see these as longer term opportunities and where they can’t offer longer term roles they’re a great stepping stone.”

Placements must support candidates to develop the skills needed to find employment..Training is offered through regional development organisation Inspira. Placements must not replace existing or planned vacancies or cause current employees and contractors to lose their jobs.

Businesses can apply for a Kickstarter through the Chamber’s Kickstart co-ordinator, Eve Halliday at eve@cumbriachamber.co.uk.

Placement vacancies can be found on: www.cumbriachamber.co.uk/policy-and-representation/kickstart-placement-vacancies