THE Amazon team in Gateshead has made a £6,500 donation to a charity supporting young adults in the town.

To celebrate the opening of the new fulfilment centre, the employees at Amazon in Gateshead were invited to choose a local good cause to support. The team chose Skills 4 Work because of the great support the charity offers to young people in the community.

Skills 4 Work supports young adults with disabilities and mental health conditions to transition from education to the workplace.

The charity runs a weekly employment support group covering a range of topics including interview preparation and mock run-throughs. Skills 4 Work also runs health and wellbeing activities that promote good physical health, confidence, and mental wellbeing.

The activities including group walks to explore safe travel options to work and a work placement programme matching the needs and aspirations of members to a placement suited to their ability.

The donation from Amazon Gateshead will go towards funding a new partnership with the Birtley-based Quirky Little Coffee Shop. The partnership offers the young adults supported by the charity with the opportunity to participate in a weekly work placement. The placements will run over a 12-month period allowing all the young people to have an opportunity to experience a work environment in hospitality, with valued support from a local employer.

To mark the donation, some of young adults from Skills 4 Work attended a special tour of the fulfilment centre in Gateshead where they learned what it’s like to work there and how Amazon delivers for customers.

Craig Rutherford, who works as a Stow Associate at Amazon Gateshead and participated in the charity’s visit to the site, said:

“It’s great to be involved in contributing to an important charity. We really enjoyed having some of the members from Skills 4 Work come and visit us and we hope they liked their tour.”

Richard Thompson, general manager at Amazon in Gateshead, added:

“The Amazon Gateshead team is excited to continue to build relationships with great charities in the community. Our team chose Skills 4 Work to receive this donation because of the impressive work it does helping young people further their employability skills. It was great to welcome the charity for a tour of our fulfilment centre and have a group of our employees learn more about the charities work."

Tracey Wallace, charity founder and development manager at Skills 4 Work, said: “We’re excited about our new partnership with Quirky Little Coffee Shop, which will offer our members invaluable practical training.

"We would like to thank Amazon for the special tour of the new building and for the donation.

"This is a big boost to our project and will help us continue supporting young adults to transition into the world of work."

The donation to Skills 4 Work was made as part of Amazon’s programme to support the communities in and around its operating locations across the UK.

Amazon is providing disadvantaged students with online STEM courses as well as teaming up with charity partner Magic Breakfast and delivering more than five million healthy breakfasts to families in England.

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