MOJO Trust matches young people with apprenticeships in a variety of fields - and apprentices who are on the path to achieving their career ambitions include Louise Ashton, aged 19, from Westhoughton.

The teenager dropped out of her English literature university course at the end of the first year because of fears of increasing graduate unemployment.

After successfully interviewing for an apprenticeship at the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), Louise will start a law degree in October.

She said: “I enjoyed university, but I wasn’t getting any work experience and couldn’t see what I would be doing when I left.

“My friends were doing apprenticeships and were getting experience now, whereas at the age of 23, after doing my degree, I would have none.

“I applied through the National Apprenticeship Scheme and Mojo have been great. They helped me prepare for the interview, do my CV and the CAB was my first interview and I got it.

“I always thought about doing law and never thought I would be doing it this way.

“There have been reports about apprenticeships being cheap labour, but it is not true and the Mojo Trust is so supportive. I will carry on with my apprenticeship and will be earning while I study.

“I tell people who come in I love my job and that I’m not just saying that — they say they can see that I really do.”

Jake Sutton, aged 21, from Farnworth, is an apprentice at Crompton Way Motors, where he started in April.

He said: “After school I wasn’t sure what to, so I enrolled into college to study IT. I’m not one for sitting in a classroom and writing assignments and, after three years, I just knew that it wasn’t right for me.

“I wanted to do something hands-on, with the opportunity to learn on the job and to come out with qualifications at the end of it.

“Since visiting Mojo Trust I haven’t looked back. I absolutely love coming to work every day and building on my future — it’s the best decision I ever made.”