New training centre launched in Aylesbury providing career training and skills development

A new training centre has opened in Aylesbury to support young people after additional help developing career skills.

Central Training Aylesbury in Walton Street, focuses on Skills For Employment, Training and Personal Development (SETPD).

By visiting the new site it is hoped that young people will gain knowledge and initiatives that provide a gateway to future work.

Already 32 learners have enrolled at the centre for coaching on areas as diverse as catering, business and administration, child care, construction and

driving theory.

As many 70 people can be signed up to programmes on offer at one time, which provides off centre learning.

Centre manager Karen Cox has worked in educational training for 32 years and has seen how the need for skills training has evolved.

She said: “For lots of reasons learners often need to have the option to learn away from a training centre. This could be down to anything from anxiety to

mobility issues so the demand for a more flexible approach to training is growing.

“Often we can combine learning from home with some work based training but ultimately we pride ourselves on offering a bespoke programme to all young people so they get the training that matches their requirements.”

While the centre itself is based in Aylesbury, the learning programmes are open to young people across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Uxbridge.

Joining Karen and her team at the official open day were representatives from, among others, local schools, the Buckinghamshire Youth Offending

Services Team, and Becky Huntington lead practitioner for Not in Employment Education or Training (Family Support Services).

Central Training Aylesbury is part of Central Training Group which offers training to young people across the UK.

Company managing director Martin Kolton has dedicated his working life to developing training opportunities for young people and was awarded an MBE for his efforts.

He added: “We are very proud that this new centre will offer a wealth of training opportunities in a wide range of disciplines that will make a huge difference to the employability of young people in the area.

“Already we have been able to make a real difference and it’s great to see so many benefit from our training both on-site and off-site. This flexibility is key to

the success of our learning.”