A tie-up between a Birmingham social enterprise and a º£½ÇÊÓƵ retail chain has helped more than 30 people secure employment.
Miss Macaroon and The Midcounties Co-operative devised the Fairer Futures Programme last year with the aim of tackling youth employment in Walsall by giving young people access to counselling, one-to-one mentoring, training and work experience.
Based at its Your Co-op Food store in the town centre, the joint venture has created a dedicated training room, a quiet space for counselling and made various alterations to the shop layout to make it more inclusive.
The Midcounties Co-operative team members have also been specially training in disability and mental health awareness and safeguarding and trauma informed practices, with many volunteering to be fully-fledged mentors and work buddies.
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Miss Macaroon founder Rosie Ginday said she thought the initiative could be replicated with other companies across a variety of sectors.
She said: "We are trying to help people to overcome some of the barriers they face in life and the first six cohorts to go through the Fairer Futures Programme have been lone parents, neurodiverse or dealing with social anxiety, disability and mental health issues.
"By tapping into the funding, knowledge and retail experience offered to us by The Midcounties Co-operative, we have created a bespoke training package that provides a holistic approach to supporting individuals into a variety of roles.
"The fact we can deliver the training and provide hands-on experience in a real-world environment is critical and it's no surprise that so far 88 per cent of participants have gone on to secure a job."
