A healthy spot of drizzle didn’t dampen the spirits as the first ever group of Cross Step and Xtra-Vert graduates took part in a showcase ceremony on the afternoon of Tuesday 22nd September at Trebarwith Hotel in Newquay. The celebratory event was the culmination of the two innovative skills based schemes, which have been specially designed by the Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) for young people who are not in education, employment or training with the assistance of entry to employment and the European Social Fund.
Based on the success of other similar vocational schemes such as Fifteen Cornwall, Xtra-Vert and Cross Step are fresh new projects aimed at giving young Cornish people a new and accessible way to improve themselves and help get them into jobs, courses or apprenticeships.
The Xtra-Vert crew got a chance to show off some skateboard and BMX tricks on the impressive ramp that they have been constructing over the last four months as part of their intensive carpentry training and they also each received £100 of power tools for successful completion of the course. The Cross Step graduates received their brand new national qualifications in surf coaching and lifeguarding and after the ceremony demonstrated their new skills by taking guests for a free surf lesson on Great Western Beach.
Jodi Redgrove of the Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) worked closely with Chris Thomson, Managing Director of Errant Surf Holidays and Cornwall Business Awards’ Young Business Person of the Year 2009, to set up Cross Step and with Will Woolnough, a carpenter and skater based in Newquay, to set up the Xtra-Vert scheme.
Xtra-Vert is based in St Day and of the nine young people from across Cornwall who started the course all nine successfully came through to complete it. Over the four months Will taught them a range of carpentry skills, including furniture construction and stud walling, so that they could also work on the construction of the skate ramp, which consists of a 4ft mini ramp and half pipe with a bowl and two 6ft extension turrets. The structure is specially designed to be dismantled into modules and can be
transported to different venues and events. It can now be hired out and the team has already been commissioned to build a new, bigger ramp that will be taken to festivals next summer.
Before the Xtra-Vert scheme all of the participants were out of work or education. Due to the success of the initial skate ramp project four of the Xtra-Verts, Jack Latham Byrne aged 21 from Watergate, Matt Duff aged 21 from Grampound Road, Luke West aged 17 from St Austell and James Follett aged 19 from Newquay, are now able to apply for full-time jobs with RIO to stay on and build the festival skate ramps and other commissions that have started coming through to Xtra-Vert. James Penfold, aged 20 from Wadebridge, has gained enough skills and qualifications to be taken on as an apprentice for a two year term with an external company. Charlie Banfield aged 16, Luke Keogh aged 17, both from Truro, Jack Gardener aged 21 from Bodmin and Herb aged 16 from St Agnes are all reentering education.
Chris and his team at Errant have spent the last three months putting Cross Step students Thomas Jarman aged 24, Naomi Jane Webb aged 23, both from Falmouth and Mitch Andrew Corbett aged 22 from Newquay, through a specially designed training programme. They have graduated with a NARS Beach Lifeguard Award and a British Surfing Association (BSA) Award, which will allow them to work anywhere in the world as surf instructors and lifeguards. Naomi has gone on to secure a position at Falmouth Surf School and Thomas is keen to get into surf coaching and lifeguarding abroad. Mitch meanwhile is going on to be an ambassador for RIO, helping to spread the word about the organisation. In return RIO has agreed to sponsor him in surf contests over the next year.
The action packed afternoon gave businesses, youth workers, other young people, employment agencies, policy makers and funders from across the South West the opportunity to see what the innovative Cross Step and Xtra-Vert schemes are all about and to talk to the young people directly about their experiences.
Xtra-Vert James Follett was out of work for six months previous to joining the scheme and says, “I heard about the project from my Aunty who works for a youth club. The course has been immense, I didn’t think this sort of stuff existed. It has made me more organised, more confident and obviously I have learnt valuable carpentry skills that I can use to get employment. I am really hoping that I can work for RIO and carry on at Xtra-Vert.”
Luke West adds, “I took on the course because skating is my life and I love working with wood and getting the chance to be creative with it. The fact that Xtra-Vert combines both is fantastic, it’s opened up so many doors.’
Mitch Corbett says of the Cross Step scheme, “I am really stoked to be going on to be an ambassador for RIO as they do such great work with young people. Because of Cross Step I now have qualifications that can help me get a job and compete in surf competitions all over the world. It’s a real bonus to have proper qualifications in something I enjoy doing.”
Jodi Redgrove, founder and Project Manager of the schemes says, “It was a really great afternoon and it was fantastic to see the Xtra-Vert crew and the Cross Step graduates showing off their new skills and work to so many interested and influential people. They have every right to be extremely proud of their achievements and we are really pleased to see them taking their new found skills onto other projects, further training, apprenticeships and employment. We’ve had such good outcomes from these schemes because we’ve been able to tap into something that is not only relevant and exciting for young people but is also sustainable and useful.”
For more information about Cross Step and Xtra-Vert please visit www.xtra-vert.com or email jodi.redgrove@realideas.org.
