The Stroud District Council and the Stroud District Youth Council are helping young people to gain employment through funding the accreditation of volunteers at The Door Youth Project, it has been proven that combining voluntary participation with accreditation improves the chances of employment.

Harry Gardner, Apprentice Fundraiser say’s ‘’being able to provide this accreditation is so important and I will go as far as to say it is life changing, it not only values the young people but it makes them more employable, it was only recently the first participant went onto gain employment shortly after completing the award, I just want to say a massive thank you to the Stroud District Council and the Stroud District Youth council for their on-going support’’

The county total of jobseekers increased by 260 to 7,892, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. The county’s unemployment figures, district by district are: Cheltenham: 1,748, up 74; Cotswolds: 572, up 1; Forest of Dean: 1,042, up 5; Glouces-ter: 2,529, up 101; Stroud: 1,077, up 37; Tewkesbury: 924, up 42.
Brendan Conboy, Chief Executive of The Door says, “trying to find a job is not easy, but for a young person without any experience it is almost impossible. Volunteering does im-prove employment prospects. Just over a year ago we employed Harry as our fundraising apprentice. We took him on because of his vast experience in previous volunteering. Harry has made a vast difference to our organisation, but it all started for him by volunteering.”

This highlights the value of the work now being delivered thanks to The Door Youth Pro-ject, Stroud District Council and the Stroud District Youth Council.