London Luton Airport wins Business Charity Award

London Luton Airport (LLA) has won a prestigious Business Charity Award in recognition for its work in supporting local young people into employment.

The Airport’s flagship ‘Get into Airports’ programme, delivered in partnership with The Prince’s Trust, was named ‘Employment Scheme of the Year’ at the award ceremony last night. The award comes as the programme sees its 113^th young person supported by scheme, a significant milestone for the partnership.

‘Get into Airports’ is a four week programme to give local unemployed young people aged 18-25 an understanding of working in a variety of roles at the Airport, with the potential to find future employment. The first two weeks are dedicated to training and preparation for the world of work. The second two are spent on a work placement with business partners from across the airport. Approximately 80% of participants have found work within the Airport’s supply-chain as a direct result of participating in the scheme.

Not only has ‘Get into Airports’ been successful in its own right, but it has also inspired other employers to replicate the ‘Get into…’ model. Having offered a placement for a young person on the second ‘Get into Airports’ programme, Thameslink Railways created their own ‘Get into Railways’ scheme with The Prince’s Trust, helping even more young people from across the region.

‘Get into Airports’ is just one of the successes of the Airport’s Community Engagement Strategy. LLA’s 2014 Community Engagement Report, published this week, which highlights the Airport’s success in working with the community to create tangible benefits for local people and businesses.

The Community Engagement strategy is based around three core areas: building sustainable communities, contributing to economic growth and health, safety & environment. Other notable successes of the strategy include a supply chain event ‘Meet the Buyer’, which connected 44 local businesses with companies across LLA’s supply chain, a two year partnership with Sue Ryder, which is well on the way to raising the target of £85,000, and £50,000 in donations to local charities though the Airport’s Community Trust Fund.

Elliot Renton, Chief Finance Officer at LLA, said: Our ‘Get into Airports’ programme has gone from strength to strength this year. This Business Charity Award is fantastic recognition for the hard work of not only our team, but also our partners and most importantly the young people themselves. The partnership with The Prince’s Trust is central to our Community Engagement Strategy and in 2015; we will be looking to expand it further so that we make a direct difference in the lives of even more local young people.”

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To find out more about the programme visit www.london-lutoninthecommunity.co.uk

To view the full report please visit http://www.london-lutoninthecommunity.co.uk/flipbooks/lla_online_annual_report/#I