Project: CCP: Van Hee

This training centre offers Skills for Work in the transport industry, with two strands: one for forklift truck training and one for LGV Cat C. Trainees also receive embedded literacy and numeracy and employability skills.

Project feature

The training programme has two possible strands, one in forklift truck (FLT) driving and one in LGV Cat C. It can last up to 13 weeks, although people have been known to get through with a licence and a job in as little as six weeks. The programme funding comes via the LSC, with a very mixed target group, both men and women, all of whom must be unemployed. The programme recruits ten people per month on each strand.

Justine Shepherd, the programme manager, says: 'In the past, doing a course like this would have cost too much for people to even consider. This programme enables people to gain a useful qualification which they might not otherwise have been able to afford.'

Participants also receive literacy and numeracy tuition through a learndirect centre located in the building, and can take the National Tests here. Other employability skills are embedded in the programme.

In spite of the economic downturn, the project manager and the MD (John Charlton) both mentioned that the logistics industry was beginning to pick up after a slow January. Agencies in this field are recruiting drivers again, and people were having success in getting jobs. There is a waiting list for the programme, as it provides an excellent opportunity to get a licence for either a FLT or an LGV - both of which would be expensive to fund yourself. The company has a good reputation locally, so firms are happy to take people on after being trained here.

Contact details

Justine Shepherd, Project manager
Van Hee: North-East Logistics Centre
William Street, Felling, Gateshead, NE10 0JP
(0191) 438 2512
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