A college campaign seeking to organise 100 apprenticeships in 100 days for young people has hit its target.

North Hertfordshire College (NHC) has announced this week – National Apprenticeship Week – that 100 apprenticeships have either begun or been pledged by businesses since the project was launched on January 15.

Businesses have been providing a wide range of apprenticeship job opportunities, including customer service, technical theatre, social media and business administration – with all of the apprenticeships achieved before the campaign reached the halfway point.

Carry Smith, vice principal of skills and employer engagement at NHC, said: “We are extremely pleased at the level of engagement with our apprenticeship campaign. We have had large organisations employing a cohort of apprentices as well as small local businesses employing individuals.

“Apprenticeships are a great way to fulfil a job vacancy and provide a young person with a stepping stone into employment. We recognise the value of employing apprentices at NHC because we have 15 apprentices employed within a variety of job roles here at the college.”

Alison Fenton, from Letchworth GC, was the first apprentice in the campaign count, employed by NHC as a customer service apprentice on January 15.

The 20-year-old said: “I applied for the apprenticeship as it was a good opportunity to earn whilst I learn, and I think it’s brilliant that the college is offering apprenticeships.

To mark National Apprenticeship Week, which began on Monday and finished yesterday (Friday), the college hosted Apprenticeship Sector Discovery Days, giving young people a hands-on taster into their chosen field of work and providing help from advisors.

The sessions were held on Thursday at the Stevenage campus and the Centre for the Arts in Hitchin.

To find out more visit www.apprenticeships.nhc.ac.uk

The National Apprenticeship Service is set to pay a vist to the Thomas Alleyne Academy today (Thursday). Support worker Kelly Gormley said: “It will be a great chance for our students to learn about the world of work.”

Stevenage MP Stephen McPartland will also appear at Barnwell School from 11am-12.30pm tomorrow in association with Solveway Apprenticeships.