Gloucestershire aerospace firm, Ontic, is launching a bursary to support young people previously in care to become apprentices.

The business, which employ 650 people across its two sites at Bishop's Cleeve and Staverton, is partnering with local charity, Young Gloucestershire, for the scheme.

The Ontic Care Leavers Bursary will ringfence three engineering technician apprenticeships (at Level 3 or 4) in 2024, specifically for people who have previously been in, or are leaving, care.

To help fund the programme, Ontic has received grant funding from its partner, CVC. CVC runs a philanthropy programme, called Planet & People, which provides grants for projects to help companies within the CVC portfolio create positive impacts for their employees or communities.

Diane Paul, head of recruitment for Ontic, said: "It's recognised that young people who have been in care face additional barriers in gaining apprenticeships, despite some additional support already available from the Government.

"Ontic already pays its apprentices a competitive salary, which increases annually. However, apprenticeship training salaries are not always enough to support independent living. With care leavers' unique circumstances, this often closes the opportunity of apprenticeships to them, so we wanted to rectify that.

"By providing a targeted bursary, all workwear and a laptop for all apprentices, we aim to remove financial barriers and increase access to apprenticeship opportunities, supporting social mobility within our local community."

Diane continued: "We are keen to provide young people with additional life skills that support their transition from education into work, helping them mature as individuals as well as employees.

"All our apprentices participate in the Ontic Life Essentials Project, which is comprised of seminars and workshops on a range of topics, including age-appropriate financial planning, money management, life event planning, support with cooking and eating on a budget, and lessons in basic home maintenance. All designed to equip our apprentices to start to live independently."

Judy Marsden, global head of philanthropy at CVC, said: "We're delighted to support Ontic with this important project. When we heard about the brilliant work they're already doing to support their apprentices with the Life Essentials Project, we were keen to get involved and support their newest initiative.

"For care leavers who will usually lack the support of a family to fall back on, starting an apprenticeship and moving into the world of work can be intimidating, so we were keen to do what we could to support in this area."