A NORTH-EAST lawyer has turned her back on the courtroom to begin a new career as a welder.

Blanche Debenham, 52, from Newcastle, made the dramatic job switch after being made redundant from her role as an in-house lawyer for national energy efficiency company Eaga, following its takeover by Carillion plc.

Now, with help from The Eaga Trust, she has completed her NVQ Level 2 exam in TIG welding and seen off competition from her all-male classmates to scoop the Gateshead College welding prize.

“I worked for Eaga for four years and, when I lost my job, in June 2011, I decided it was time to do something completely different,” she said.

“I’ve always enjoyed making things and I love metalwork, so welding seemed like a really good choice and I was hugely fortunate in securing at place at Gateshead Engineering College, which has a superb reputation in this field.

“When I heard that The Eaga Trust helped former employees who wanted to learn a new skill, I decided to contact them and the support, both financial and moral, that they’ve given me has been wonderful.”

The trust was formed to promote employee engagement and ownership and, following the sale of Eaga plc to Carillion plc, is using some of its funds to set up a “skill-builder fund”

to help former employees retrain or set up their own businesses.

Any of the 7,500 people who worked for Eaga prior to its sale to Carillion can register with The Eaga Trust. So far, about half have come forward and the trust wants to hear from the rest.

In addition to the skillbuilder fund The Eaga Trust has launched a business support programme where trust members can not only apply for loans to start their own business but receive expert support and advice from the trust, which may even help with some initial set up costs.

Ashley Dean, chief executive at The Eaga Trust said: “We are very keen to help all our registered Trust members and we are delighted Blanche is well on her way to embarking on a new career, which she clearly loves.”

Anyone who thinks they may be eligible for trust membership and access to the £1,000 available under the skill-builder fund, get help starting their own business or use the other employment support initiatives, should register their membership on The Eaga Trust website, at eagatrust.com, where they will be asked to provide details of their past employment at Eaga.

Further information can be obtained on the website.