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Graduation ceremony celebrates achievements of Shropshire learners

A special ceremony has been held by a Shropshire charity to celebrate the success of young learners who have overcome a mix of challenges to gain the skills and qualifications required ready for the world of work or further training.

Landau, which runs its study programme for 16-19 year olds, held its graduation event on August 31 at Casey’s in Donnington with 37 learners receiving certificates for their achievements.

Nearly all the students receiving support through Landau’s new dedicated Training and Enterprise Centre in Wellington throughout the 2021/22 academic year have secured a place in further education or have jobs to transition into.

Sonia Roberts, CEO of Landau, said the event was a wonderful way to end the year and to mark the achievements of individual learners.

She said: “I’m incredibly proud of all the hard work and dedication that our learners have demonstrated throughout the programme.

“Many of our learners have previously experienced challenges or barriers to learning in a mainstream school or college environment but with us and our tailored support they have been able to reach their full potential and gain the relevant qualifications, skills and practical work experience for the next stage of their lives, which is just tremendous.

“Our programme is designed to be a stepping stone to upskill and promote life skills in young people and following the Covid pandemic it has been more challenging than ever to engage young people so these achievements are a very positive outcome.

“We wish every single one of our learners the very best of luck as they progress either into further training and education or into employment.”

More than 70 per cent of learners undertaking the study programme have gained one or more qualifications in functional skills English and maths, employability skills or personal social development skills.

Awards were also presented to individual learners for attendance, improvement and progression.

Landau, which won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Promoting Social Mobility, operates the study programme from its skills, training and enterprise centre in Wellington which opened earlier this year to support learners across the county.

Alongside supporting learners to achieve qualifications in functional skills and employability, the new, bigger base has enabled the charity to provide a centre for young people to study a range of other vocational courses such as hairdressing, health and beauty and construction.

On site students have access to a professional-standard hair salon, construction skills suite, modern classrooms and there are also plans in the pipeline for an on-site café.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Melanie Boulter .