REAL attraction for the next generation

A new industry initiative to attract 14-16 year olds to the vehicle repair industry will take place in Hertfordshire next month.

The inaugural REALexperience Showcase Event will be hosted by Rye Street Group at its repair centre in Bishops Stortford on 24 February, from 5pm to 8pm.

Organised by AutoRaise and REAL, the Ethan Rees Linwood Memorial Fund, the event will include live demonstrations of vehicles being repaired by Rye Street Group technicians as well as presentations from suppliers and manufacturers.

Bob Linwood, whose charity has pledged £10,000 to help AutoRaise Affiliated Repairers engage with 14 to 16 year olds, said, ‘We hope to attract over 100 pupils.

‘Some candidates have already been chosen by their tutors as potential apprentices, based on their interest levels in vehicle repair and this is a fantastic opportunity to capture interest and start the process of continual dialogue with these young people in the hope of awarding some of them an AutoRaise Apprenticeship at Rye Street Group.’

Bill Duffy, Rye Street Group managing director and an original AutoRaise steering group member, added, ‘We are extremely proud to be hosting this inaugural event and as well as hopefully capturing some young talent for the future.

‘We are going to be inviting our business partners, various industry stakeholders and other repairers to join us and hopefully stimulate some interest for their own organisations to support AutoRaise and REAL in this exciting initiative.’