This month's Spotlight falls on Rene Murray, a local resident who is currently training to be a peer mentor with P2P.

Rene is passionate about working with young people and helping them avoid falling in to a life of crime, focussing instead on channelling their energies in to training and work opportunities. Having experienced a life of crime and having later paid a price for it with stints in prison, Rene is well placed to educate and mentor loacal youngsters.

Alex has been on a work placement withlocal maintenance and building contractor,Chas Berger, since October and has found the experience a valuable insight into the world of work. Admitting that he had little idea what he wanted to do upon leaving school last year, Alex was keen to enter the workplace and start earning a wage rather than continuing in education.

While the majority of his friends went on to college, Alex feels that many may be forced to drop-out when the educational maintenance allowance (EMA) is scrapped. He feels that the majority of his generation want to better themselves but are caught in a trap where they find it hard to fund their education and aren’t taken seriously enough by the job centres until they reach 18.

This month’s Spotlight falls on twoyoung residents currently involved in the Pathways 2 Progress (P2P) training and work experience schemes. Alex Hood and Lincoln Marquis-Baron, both 17, have secured work placements with local companies via P2P and talked to Here & Now about their experiences.

Lincoln, a life-long resident of Wornington Green, has been focussed on learning a trade since the age of 14. His work placement with Stapletech, a mechanical and electrical engineering company, in October has further cemented his previous ambitions to train as a plumber.