9:10am Sunday 21st March 2010
Education minister Leighton Andrews has announced a new £4.6million initiative aimed at helping young people from gypsy traveller communities into employment.
Pembrokeshire County Council’s learning and future employment project will receive £2.5m from the Convergence European Social Fund (ESF) through the Welsh Assembly.
The Pembrokeshire-led project will target 11-19 year olds from gypsy traveller communities across six other areas in Wales, to help them gain skills and enter the workforce.
It is expected that about 450 young people will take part in the project, with 300 going on to gain qualifications.
Pembrokeshire County Council’s leader, Councillor John Davies, said: “This project hopes to provide tailored support so as to encourage their participation in education and thereby assist them into jobs.”
Kayleigh Hearn, aged 23, is a gypsy who benefited from an earlier European project delivered by Pembrokeshire County Council through the EQUAL programme.
Having been brought up at the Castle Quarry gypsy site near Monkton, Kayleigh has become one of the first gypsy travellers to go to college and get a hair dressing qualification.
She is now one of the longest-serving hairdressers at Trevor’s salon in Pembroke, with a good reputation and a long list of regulars. She is the first gypsy student to get an NVQ in the trade and has now reached level three.
She said: “When I was young I wanted a lot more in life but it was difficult. My parents didn’t have an education and they couldn’t help me.
“The project enabled us gypsy children get to where we wanted to go. It gave us a chance to get into the world.”
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