Auto22 is run and wholly owned by young people’s charity Catch22 and uses a commercial approach to generate financial surpluses that are then used to resource social objectives, namely supporting an apprentice scheme for young trainee automotive technicians.

Catch22, together with its subsidiaries such as Auto22, supports young people who find themselves in difficulty by helping them to develop confidence through training, work experience and other forms of support.

Indeed, Catch22 has a long and detailed history that demonstrates its ability to firmly protect this social mission through numerous changing social, political and economic circumstances.  With its origins dating back to 1788, it has an incredibly rich history.

Throughout this history it has consistently helped young people in difficulty and continues to do so today, supporting over 30,000 young people through a variety of means, of which Auto22 is a shining example of a modern innovation.

Over the years Catch22 has found that most young people in difficulty, such as those who come from tough neighbourhoods, want the same opportunities as everyone else.  They want to work, to have somewhere safe to live and to be independent.

However, one of the key barriers faced is a lack of training opportunities and work-based experience and the lack of availability of such opportunities is a major predictor of long-term unemployment and poor health, amongst other difficulties.

Auto22 was created to directly address these issues and is Catch22’s pilot social enterprise from which others can be replicated across the country and across a range of trades.

All staff at Auto22 are trained to support and mentor the young people who come to the project, many of whom (although not all) will come from another service,  the Catch22 North Kent Vocational Skills Centre, a fully equipped training centre for young people offering NVQ Level 1 in car mechanics. 

The Catch22 North Kent Vocational Skills Centre is based next door to Auto22 which enables young people from the Skills Centre to easily progress to a work environment, and enables Auto22 employees to act as role models for the young people joining the Skills Centre. 

Auto22 aims to provide a minimum of 350 work experience placements and 25 apprenticeships to disadvantaged young people over a five year period. 

The Catch22 North Kent Vocational Skills Centre will assist by providing a link to its young trainees who are referred from the Alternative Curriculum Service, the Youth Offending Service, the Probation Service and Pupil Referral Units.

Stephen Shipley (nicknamed Boo) is an Auto22 apprentice who came from the Skills Centre. 

Boo was diagnosed with ADHD whilst at primary school and without adequate support at secondary school, he found himself excluded on several occasions until he faced a final exclusion at the age of 15.

Eventually Boo stumbled across a local police officer who pointed him in the direction of the Catch22 North Kent Vocational Skills Centre whose staff helped him to learn how to approach people and to understand the benefit of a change of attitude, alongside learning the technical skills of a motor mechanic.

He is now a Support Technician at Auto22 and says that his job has changed his life. 

Boo wanted to be a mechanic when he was a little boy and can now feel the sense of achievement that fulfilling that ambition has brought to him. 

Having realised his ability to achieve in this way, Boo continues to progress in his work at Auto22 with a feeling of pride and a vision for the future that he was once without.

www.auto22.co.uk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC8qTXKRWyQ – a short video about Boo’s experience

www.catch-22.org.uk

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