The National Youth Agency

Interview with Fiona Blacke, Chief Executive at the National Youth Agency. The NYA is an organisation committed to supporting the lives and services of young people through personal and social development.

Why take on apprentices?
In our experience, apprenticeships provide good experience both for young people and the organisation -enabling them to grow and develop by offering opportunities to gain suitable skills for future careers, while, for us, in turn learning from them to ensure our organisation is meeting the needs of the young people we seek to support.

What difference do you see in young people by providing apprenticeships?
By taking this overall approach and providing these opportunities, we have found the young people we employ not only feel encouraged in the workplace; it ensures the placement is done in a way that learning is supported through having the chance to apply theory in a true life situation.

What advice would you give to other potential employers?
For apprenticeships to work and be successful, organisations need to take a planned approach so they motivate the young person and achieve positive results for both them and the organisations as a whole.

What can you get from an apprentice?
Apprentices need to be nurtured in a way that allows them to grow into their role, developing the skills and confidence needed to succeed. By being consistent through providing a structured flow of support and setting achievable targets the young person will progress and feed into your organisational approach –so you learn from one another. This is the approach NYA has taken and both we and our apprentices have reaped the rewards.

Would you recommend the use of apprentices?
We are delighted to be part of Fair Train and I would encourage any organisation to undertake apprenticeships properly, to support young people. The experience and feedback we have received as an Agency has been very positive and it has been truly beneficial to see individuals grow into their roles –developing the skills they need in the work place, while motivating and rejuvenating the organisation.

What are your future plans for apprentices?
There are currently only a few apprenticeships for young people at the NYA. The future, however, looks positive as we aim to grow and develop –taking young people with us as we do.

For further info on opportunities at the National Youth Agency, please visit www.nya.org.uk/jobs