yip

The project provides opportunities for highly disaffected and socially excluded young people (aged 14 to 21) to gain skills, experience and nationally recognised qualifications in motor vehicle maintenance (NVQ Level 1 and 2) helping to divert them from offending and truanting and increase their opportunities in the workplace. Participants would also delivered a range of diversionary education and awareness inputs from local agencies including for example the YOT, YIP, Connexions and Lifeline.
This project follows a pilot that took place January to May 2002 and which elicited strong local support and positive impacts demonstrated through rigorous monitoring and evaluation. The project is designed around donated out-of-service buses, ambulances and cars, the young people, with support from suitably qualified staff members, service the vehicles and makes them fit-for-purpose for use in community projects in developing countries. The vehicles are then provided to International Rescue, which ships them overseas. The project can work with around 45 young people at risk referred from a range of agencies. The pilot project demonstrated a successful impact upon participants, the feasibility of the project and the mechanisms for access to vehicles and the provision of vehicles for overseas aid work.

The project is a partnership between Karting 2000, International Rescue (a UK based international development charity), Karting 2000 is a company with a staff team that are trained and experienced in delivering training to disaffected young people. The manager of Karting 2000 has a track record in working with youth groups in the Manchester area including working with Joint Openshaw Group, Oldham Youth Inclusion Project and Albans Independent School. Because of our skilled staff team, resources and success we believe that we are an ideal organisation to work in partnership with organisations who want to engaged young people in alternative education provision in a new and imaginative way.

In January 2002, The Oldham Youth Inclusion Project (YIP) contracted Karting 2000 to deliver a pilot project with a group of 12 young people aged 14-18 who had been identified by the YIP. This unique project has proven successful in capturing the imaginations of some of those hardest to reach young people by offering them a chance to work on a wide range of vehicles including ambulances, buses and go-karts. Karting 2000 works in collaboration with two British based humanitarian aid charities receive donated out of service vehicles which are then given to the project for restoration by the young people and then shipped to developing communities around the world.

The motor vehicle project was developed following a pilot course that was designed in partnership with the Oldham Youth Inclusion Project and two British based Humanitarian Aid Charities International Rescue Corps and Salud International. The project has been very successful and the Oldham young people are now ready to move onto the next level. Building on our experience from the pilot project which indicated that the course worked effectively with the Oldham Youth Inclusion Projects' target group diverting the young people from crime and offering supported training.