Macmillan Publishing and Sovereign Housing among big employers pledging funds for West Berkshire Training Consortium's 100 Apprenticeship Challenge

Following the launch of the 100 Apprenticeship Challenge by West Berkshire Training Consortium (WBTC) last month, the campaign has already brokered levy fund donations from four major employers.

Thatcham Research, Sovereign Housing, West Berkshire Council and Macmillan Publishing have all pledged funds to help small local employers train new apprentices.

Managing Director of WBTC Matt Garvey was extremely pleased to see the campaign get off to such a strong start, he said: “We have formed long standing relationships with large employers in the local area and we have been active in encouraging them to donate their unspent funds (which would just go back to the treasury), to support the training of local apprentices. These organisations are Pioneer employers within our campaign, and we hope their proactive endorsement will encourage others to come on board.”

The 100 Apprenticeship Challenge encourages large levy paying employers to donate up to 25% of their unspent funds to smaller employers to fund the training of apprenticeships. The campaign was launched last month by WBTC and local MP Laura Farris who has given her support for the initiative.

Matt continued: “We want to encourage as many large employers as possible to put their levy funds to good use and support the building back of our community. Small employers can also contact us to find out about accessing the funds to train new apprentices.”

Large employers can donate funds through the government portal and small employers can bid for those funds to pay for the training of new apprentices. West Berkshire Training Consortium can assist both large and small employers to connect and broker training arrangements.

For more information visit wbtc-uk.com.