Waitrose storefront

Waitrose's move is part of a wider IGD initiative

Waitrose is helping to tackle youth unemployment by taking part in a scheme to help young offenders get into work.

Members of the Waitrose personnel team for Cambridgeshire will run monthly sessions in conjunction with HMP/Young Offenders Institution (YOI) Littlehey, to give participants an understanding of the food industry and the job application and selection process.

The sessions have been developed in partnership with A4e, the education provider at HMP/YOI Littlehey, to give those taking part an insight into areas including customer service, how to complete a CV and job application form and interview techniques.

Waitrose and HMP/YOI will also run sessions that teach young offenders completing a BTEC Business course about the co-owned and democratic structure of the John Lewis Partnership, the largest example of an employee-owned business in the UK.

If successful the scheme, which is being run as part ofIGD's Feeding Britain's Future - Skills for Work Month in September,has the potential to roll out to other YOIs across the country.

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