Training helps Boro stewards with promotions

Middlesbrough Football Club is riding high in the Championship - and promotion has come early off the pitch too!

Twenty stewards at the club's Riverside Stadium have completed advanced training, funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority, to boost their qualifications and career prospects. 

Delivered by training provider Orangebox, the programme included level two and three courses in spectator safety.

As a result, 12 stewards have stepped into supervisor roles, enhancing safety and event management at the club. 

Funding through the devolved Adult Skills Fund also enabled the club to recruit and train previously unemployed individuals, such as Mark Robinson, from Hartlepool, who was struggling to get work in the type of job he wanted.

The 59-year-old said: “The tutor was really good and the course was simple to follow.”

Middlesbrough’s Leo Marshall, 19, has also clinched his first job with the club.

He added: “I’m working and feel less anxiety than I did – I feel good about my future now.”

The initiative was supported through the Government’s Adult Skills Fund and Skills Bootcamps, designed to upskill workers and provide career progression opportunities.

Nicola Hubble, director of career development at Orangebox, added: “We were delighted when Middlesbrough FC approached us to support their recruitment drive for the new season.

“We had already delivered the qualification to stewards working for the club, but they really wanted to help local unemployed people into sustainable jobs.

“Leo is part of our third cohort of spectator safety candidates we have upskilled and supported into employment with the club.

“Mark is from the first cohort to take part in the pre-employment delivery for the club, and is one of nine candidates who were offered the job.

“We are very honoured to be a part of this and really thrilled that Mark found exactly what he was looking for.”

Skills Bootcamps are funded by the Department for Education, as part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, and provided locally through the Combined Authority.

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen added: “Getting people the skills they need to get jobs is at the heart of what we’re doing. It’s great to see our funding doing exactly what it should with Orangebox’s help.”

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