Putting Life into Old Bangers A group of unemployed young men peer under the bonnet of the banger they are getting ready to race in a local demolition derby. The car has been stripped down to the bare metal - minus all passenger seats and interior trim and with an anti- roll bar added for the driver's protection. The car battery sits next to the driver, bolted down to prevent spillages and the hatchback has been welded shut to prevent it springing open in a collision. This is the Skills Unit, Ipswich, a workshop unit on an industrial estate on the outskirts of town. Unemployment and crime is high on the sink estates on the south side of town. A partnership of local organisations has come together under the banner of the Anglia Care Trust to offer training in motor mechanics and manual trades. Here New Dealers rub shoulders with young offenders sent by the probation service, pairs of disruptive pupils from a local special school mix with young men and women from local youth clubs. A mixed group studying for an Open College Network diploma listens intently as the instructor explains how to strip down the crank case of a Kawasaki trail bike. Basic skills teacher Stephen Orbell takes young people aside for one-to-one sessions for an hour a week. He says, 'I try and find out by talking with them what their needs are and how they can be tackled.' It may not seem much time to bring someone up to a standard where they can function in a job but then the workshop sessions that run throughout the rest of the week have been set up as springboards to numeracy and literacy. Teaching encourages youngsters to answer questions. What is the cubic capacity of the engine? How many hours will it take to strip down and reassemble? What are all the parts called? Can you read a health and safety manual? Can you read the Highway Code and apply for a driving test? As they finish putting together the Kawasaki, the instructor John Betts tells the group to log what they have done that morning in a diary and bring it with them when they return later in the week. Talk to the group of young men working on the souped-up racer and you quickly realise two things. First, they are keen to learn: Second, they have been seriously failed by the school system. Branded as rejects from an early age, they fell too far behind to catch up - and no one cared. Working with disadvantaged young people, Stephen recognises that building basic skills and confidence is a long-term project. There is no quick turn-around and pushing people out into jobs, although some may eventually move on to college. In this part of the world unskilled manual work is a thing of the past. If you cannot read or write to level one - you don't have a job. Orbell explains what has changed: 'Industry in general is looking for flexibility - workers who are able to muiti-task and manage themselves. At the lowest level, people are being tasked with completing paperwork. That's when the lack of basic skills shows up." NAME: Anglia Care Trust BRIEF: To provide training and support for young people at risk of offending TARGET GROUP: 16-25-year-olds in Suffolk FOCUS: To train mentors to provide basic skills assessment and support for young people attending motor vehicle and cycling workshops GRANT: Major MANAGED BY: Basic Skills Agency

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