A FOOTBALL based scheme set up to help unemployed people has notched up an impressive scoring rate.
More than 50 people have found jobs after taking part in the ground-breaking Rhyl Strikers project.
Another 179 participants have gained UEFA-recognised qualifications and 282 people have gone on to further education.
On top of that, six of the former Rhyl Strikers students have set up their own social enterprise.
The scheme based at Rhyl Football Club’s Belle Vue ground is supported by the club’s Football in the Community programme while the tutors are funded by Coleg Harlech WEA.
Rhyl Strikers was the brainchild of Football in the Community manager Tracey Jones.
It combines football training and fitness with classroom studies where participants can start off with learning skills in literacy and numeracy along with motivation and confidence building.
The students can go on to learn about manual handling, first aid, health and hygiene and go on a week’s work experience with one of the project’s sponsors.
Tutor Lee Jones has plenty of street cred with the learners because in his spare time he plays on the wing for Llandudno FC.
He said: “You see the learners grow in confidence and they can get National Open College Network qualifications which is great.”
Luke Bell, 21, from Rhyl, who was laid off by a construction firm in April, said:
“Rhyl Strikers is brilliant. It just gives you so much, because it’s football orientated it gives you a learning edge but through sport. It’s fantastic.”
Fellow learner James Daniels, 26, said taking part in the course had helped him regain his confidence
“I want to let other people know to come here as well because it’s good.”
Tony Hepton, the club’s general manager and director of Football in the Community, said: “We’ve got a lot of people who just need that little lift to get out of their current positions and give them more confidence to go forward and to go and actively seek jobs.