OUT of work youngsters were given a classroom skills session and taken on a weekend camping adventure trip.

Catten College and LightBulb joined together to help 20 young people from Harwich, Clacton, Manningtree and Basildon gain a range of valuable skills so they can put them to use to gain employment.

The course, Team Up For Adventure, took them to Rendlesham Forest, Woodbridge, to help build skills in communication, motivation and team building.

The three-day trip saw them camp in the forest, cook, put up tents without instructions and complete a 10-mile orienteering course, which included map reading and using a compass which many had not even seen before.

They also went on an overnight hike through the woodland.

Clive Davis, director of Catten College and organiser of the trip, said: “To start with they had a classroom based session with LightBulb about communication and working in a team.“Then 10 of them went on the camping trip.“These are people that have been out of work for at least 12 months.

“It went really well and the feedback from them was fantastic.”

The young people were all recruits of Talentmatch South East, which supports people aged 18-24 years who have been unemployed for over 12 months, into work, education or training.