Midlands kids on dole sent on I'm A Celebrity style survival courses

Jul 12 2010 by Paul Cole, Sunday Mercury

Bushcraft

JOBLESS teenagers in the Midlands are being sent on jungle survival courses – to boost their chances of finding work in the recession.

They are being dropped in woodland and told to fend for themselves in scenes reminiscent of TV show I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

Once out in the wild they have to find food and water, make fire and build shelters from logs and branches.

The first group to take on the nine-day challenge was made up of 16 young people, aged 16 to 19, from Coventry and Warwickshire.

All were selected because they were on the NEET (Not in Employment Education or Training) register.

“They were given the opportunity to learn how survive in the wild at woodland sites in Coventry and Leicestershire,” said Denise Taylor, of the Warwickshire-based Education 4 Conservation (E4C) group.

“Here they were taught to overcome the basic life problems our ancestors faced in day-to-day living. This meant they had to source and provide food, find water, make fire and build shelters from natural materials.

“The bushcraft courses are designed to give young people the edge when hunting for jobs in a tough market that has seen this age group being the hardest hit in the recession, with unemployment figures at an all-time high for 16 to 25s.

“All employers are looking for a range of skills and personality traits such as good communication, problem-solving, and the ability to work as part of a team.