APPRENTICESHIPS are not just for young people who are new to work, North-East training provider Northern Skills Group has reminded businesses.

The group has highlighted a move by Durham County Council to put eleven of its workers through apprenticeships in Sustainable Waste Management, to make its workforce ‘future-proof’.

The cohort of workers, including the youngest at 22 and the oldest at 60, is studying towards City and Guilds waste management qualifications that will help the council manage its waste sustainably.

Based at the Council’s Chilton, Annfield Plain and Peterlee depots, the eleven staff are being trained in skills such as controlling the storage and collection of waste, operating weighbridges and team working.

Groups spokesman Angela Beadnell-Wall said: “At the same time the apprentices are gaining qualifications.”