M&S helps local youth make their mark

Make Your Mark is an on-the-job training and mentoring programme designed to address the skills and experience gap that prevents unemployed young people – aged between 16 and 24 - from finding work. The first session was launched in July and saw jobs offered to all participants who passed each element of the programme.

Youth unemployment has recently reached record levels, with more than one in five 16-24 year-olds in the labour force struggling to find jobs.

In Northern Ireland current figures show that there are 21,600 unemployed young people.

Liz McNamee, store manager at M&S Ballymena store, said: “We hope to make a real and lasting impact on the lives of the young people coming through the programme at M&S Ballymena store.”