UNEMPLOYED youngsters from around Wiltshire have been sprucing up Trowbridge Park for the nine days and unveiled the efforts of their labour last week.

The group, known as Team 11, are currently completing The Learning Curve’s 12-week Prince’s Trust Team programme in Trowbridge, which aims to build up their skills to help them find employment.

The 10 young people, aged between 16-25, created a new pathway in the park next to the pond and installed a new seating area to be enjoyed by the community.

Craig Enderby, team leader at The Learning Curve said: “We finished the project on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule which was great because of the weather we had. We were worried in the first week that we would not finish it on time but the team worked really hard to get it done.

“The young people found it really hard and the majority of them have never worked outdoors before particularly in a practical sense. Once we started it, we realised it was a bigger project than we anticipated and the weather wasn’t very kind to us. They spent the first four days digging the channel for the path but when we got past that struggle and started laying the pathway, they really took ownership and pride over what they were doing to finally have something they were proud with.”

The project was completed in partnership with the Friends of Trowbridge Park who pitched the idea to the Learning Curve.

Mr Enderby added: “We have been running the course for three years and we run three courses a year. Somewhere down the line, Sharl Adabashi heard about how we complete a community project and he contacted us and asked if we wanted to get involved with the park.

“Sharl came out and pitched his project to the team and they had three other projects to consider. Out of the four, they weighed up the pros and cons and decided the new seating area in the park would be the best time spent for the amount of time we had.”

The group of youngsters also managed to collect £321 following a fundraiser to buy the materials needed for the project.

As well as the community project, the programme includes a residential activity week, work experience, CV preparation and additional qualifications, providing young people with the skills and confidence to progress into work or further education.