A ‘back to work’ initiative for young people in Hampshire has recruited its seventieth person.

‘New Jobs, New Futures’, run by the county council, offers young people at least six months of paid work and the opportunity to gain valuable experience within the workplace, helping them to find jobs.

The project began in October 2009 and is funded through the Department for Work and Pensions. Twenty-year-old Owen Thurlby from South Ham has found work through the scheme. He currently...

More than £100,000 has been made available to boost services for children and younger people in Basingstoke.

As part of a county-wide £1million scheme, councillor David Kirk agreed to release £122,663 in grants to projects in the town. This includes £9,500 for Relate to help fund family counselling services and £18,790 to Basingstoke Voluntary Services to go towards a project to support young carers. An additional £87,444 has been awarded in smaller grants to a wide range of voluntary...

BOROUGH students took part in a three-day Army Career Challenge this month. Basingstoke College of Technology signed up to the event, featuring competitive events for students above the age of 16. Student Ben Wotton,16, from Basingstoke took part in the Chefs challenge and said, “Really cool day, the chefs challenge was great laugh and I enjoyed getting the information on the Bomb Disposal Stand, and the paint ball stand was great fun.”

Commander Regional Recruiting Lieutenant Colonel...