SOFEA Didcot offers young people an alternative route to gaining qualifications and getting a job. Chief executive Richard Kennell explains the benefits his organisation can offer

South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance (SOFEA), a social enterprise in Didcot is celebrating its second birthday.

It was set up in 2014 by Richard Kennell to provide education and training for young people to get them ready for their first job.

Based on Trident Park, SOFEA redistributes high quality surplus food to more than 100 local charities.

This operation provides valuable work experience for 16-18 year olds so that they can demonstrate their skills to employers.

School doesn’t always suit people, at SOFEA we understand that there is a different way to get the skills and knowledge you need to be an asset to a local company.

First thing in the morning, from 8am, trainees start to arrive to help prepare the day’s orders for delivery to charities, they work together quickly and accurately to ensure that the goods are delivered on time.

Later in the day deliveries have to be processed and entered onto the stock system.

This all takes place in a working warehouse environment.

It is not a warehousing course though, the environment is perfect for developing the skills that employers say are the most important – self management, teamwork and communication.

Some of the trainees will go on to work in warehouses, but there are also opportunities here to work in administration, IT, customer service, retail and much much more.

Matty, a trainee at SOFEA, thinks the programme has helped him to get a foot on the ladder with a local company.

He said: “Before I came here I didn’t understand how things had to be done, but now I am more confident, can work as part of a team and solve problems.”

Matty has an interview at a local business and is also benefiting from the work SOFEA does to help prepare for this.

He has worked on his CV and practised interviews. In its first two years SOFEA has worked with over 200 trainees and volunteers, helping them into work for the first time or back into work after long absences.

Sometimes this is as simple as providing a routine for someone who has been inactive for months or years, building confidence and belief along the way.

For young people, especially those aged between 16 and 18, SOFEA provides a much more in depth programme with many elements. Each individual focuses on what they need most to make progress.

This can include work experience, employability qualifications, forklift licences and maths and English tuition.

All of this is provided in a supportive environment where it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them.

Angie, the mother of one of the trainees at SOFEA said:”I think it is fantastic. They put so much effort into everyone there.”

So far the approach is working. 85 per cent of young people completing qualifications move on to employment or further training.

One of the keys to this success is that trainees can see that while they are training they are providing a service to other people in their community which is really valuable. Distributing surplus food to community centres, day centres, lunch clubs and hostels gives the individual a sense of purpose in what they are doing, many come back and volunteer when they’ve finished the programme.

New courses are starting at SOFEA all the time, there are vacancies in September and young people who want a different approach to making progress can make an appointment to come and have a look around and see what they make of it.

The best thing about SOFEA is that it brings together solutions to three issues at the same time – getting people into work, feeding people in need and reducing food waste.

* For more information contact Richard on 01235510774 or by email richard@sofea.uk.com