Young volunteers are having a ball to celebrate completing full-time work placements working with children.

Fifteen 18 to 25-year-olds will collect awards at the event for taking placements within Bradford Council’s Services to Children and Young People.

They are the first young people in Bradford to complete the scheme, over more than 44 weeks to gain a Level Two National Vocational Qualific-ation.

The Council was awarded £250,000 to recruit 30 young people over a two-year period as part of the vtalent pilot programme.

Placements involved youth work, early years and play projects to supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities, and those in the care of the Council.

A graduation ball is being held for the group at the Dubrovnik Hotel, Oak Avenue, Manningham, tomorrow.

Councillor Michael Kelly said: “The programme has been a wonderful way for these young people to make a difference and it has also given them the opportunity to learn new skills, gain training and a qualification, all of which could help them gain future employment.”

He added the project supported the district’s B-Someone campaign.

Nola O’Neill, the Council’s young people’s volunteering officer for the vtalent scheme, said: “All but one of the volunteers was previously not in education, employment or training and they have all taken part in a huge personal journey as vtalent volunteers.”

Vtalent volunteer Ian Ratnik, 23, joined the scheme after being made redundant by kitchen firm Magnet.

His placement was with the initiative’s outdoor education team which works with groups of young people from different youth projects across the district.

He said: “After I left my last job, having worked with the public, I knew that was what I wanted to do. This was a fantastic opportunity for me and incorporated everything into one.”

Sophie Smith, 25, was a stay at home mum before she signed up to vtalent. She took a placement with the inclusion project, a service to children with disabilities.

She said: “I started volunteering as I was finding it hard to get back into work. What I hope to get out of my volunteering is experience, confidence and new skills, some of which I have come a long way in.”

A second group of volunteers begin training next month.