Apprenticeship evening was just the job

A potential apprentice tests out the HGV simulator

More than 500 young people from across the borough packed Rochdale Town Hallfor the annual summer apprenticeship open evening.

The ‘Find your Future’ event allowed anyone aged 16-24 to explore the hundreds of apprenticeship vacancies available in and around the borough, and even gave them the opportunity apply for jobs on the night.

Visitors were able to talk to training providers and employers offering a vast range of careers from robotics, logistics and mechanical engineering to hair dressing and retail. Demonstrations on the night included the chance for budding drivers to handle a heavy goods vehicle through a virtual reality simulator.

Andy Turner, who manages the apprenticeship programme for Rochdale Borough Council, said: “It was an excellent evening and great to see so many enthusiastic young people attending - our exhibitors commented on how high the quality of candidates was.

"We have a really wide range of apprenticeships with more coming in every day, and there was a lot of interest in the vacancies on the night."