A group of young people from West Salford have grown in confidence and helped their community thanks to the Prince’s Trust Team programme.

The team of five were the latest to graduate from the free scheme that is led and delivered by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service across every borough in the county.

At an awards ceremony in the AJ Bell Stadium in front of dignitaries, family and friends, each of the participants gave a five-minute presentation, highlighting their time on the course and their favourite experiences.

The Prince’s Trust Team programme is a 12-week personal development course giving young people aged 16 to 25 who are not in employment, education or training the opportunity to learn new skills, complete qualifications and gain greater self-confidence. The Service is now recruiting for other Team Programme’s running across Greater Manchester.

Graduating from the most recent course run from Eccles Community Fire Station was Laura Alberdi, 21, Lewis Blair, 20, Melissa Buckley, 20, Mark Leeming, 19, and Natasha Foster, 22.

Gina Marks, Prince’s Trust Team Programme Manager at Eccles, said: “The graduation was a great success and the young people should feel extremely proud of themselves. This course is another example of how GMFRS provides value to the community. A lot of the young people on the course have few or no qualifications and have become disengaged – thanks to this programme, we’re able to change that.

“Over the 12 weeks, the participants have learned respect, self-confidence and a variety of new skills. They have grown as individuals and now have clear aims and objectives in life. They have also found some new friends.”

The team took part in a number of activities during the programme, which included raising £600 for a community project by bag-packing at a local supermarket. The participants also attended a four-day team building residential in North Wales, two-week work placement and learned about fire safety, food hygiene, first aid, equality, diversity and disability awareness.

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