Cash seized from criminals in West Yorkshire is being used train the plumbers and electricians of the future.
Teenagers aged 13 to 16 are being helped to create careers in manual jobs by the Building Futures Together project in Pudsey.
The scheme is the latest to be funded by the Mayor of West Yorkshire’s Safer Communities Fund which uses money recovered via the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Trainee plumber Harrison Ridsdale, 16, who was at risk of falling out of mainstream education, said: “I’ve landed on my feet really.”
Harrison is currently training to become a plumber while continuing his education at a special unit.
“I think me and school begged to differ and we all realised that it wasn’t the best route for me,” he said.
“So they ended up putting me here and this has worked out a lot better for me.”
Building Futures Together is a Community Interest Company (CIC) based at Pudsey firm G&H Group near Leeds.
John Thornton, who runs it, left school aged 16 and is an ex-British Rail manager and former West Yorkshire police officer with 15 years service.
“The reason I set it up was to give young people experience of what a career is and to try to change something early before it’s too late,” he said.
“I think knowing from some of the people I worked with in the past, they would be quite pleased that it [criminal money] has been used for something like this.
“I think they would be delighted that they’re actually helping to give something back.”
The Safer Communities Fund has given out more than £2.3m to community-based projects.
Alison Lowe, West Yorkshire’s deputy mayor for policing and crime, said: “We want young people to have hope, to have a future.
“This initiative is absolutely what this money is all about. Giving young people hope, but taking it from the criminals. It’s almost sweet, isn’t it?”
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