AN award-winning learning scheme supported by a Keighley housing group has begun a drive to recruit more graduates.

The Graduate Employment Mentoring (GEM) programme, run by Incommunities' Centre for Partnership, is seeking 22 new candidates interested in a housing career.

Recruits receive management and leadership training combined with paid work experience, plus one-to-one mentor support.

The year-long initiative is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).

Incommunities, which is providing two internships, is being joined in the scheme by ten housing associations and councils.

They include, for the first time, a Scottish housing organisation – the Wheatley Group in Glasgow.

The latest cohort, the eighth, starts in October.

Geraldine Howley, Incommunities group chief executive and president of the CIH, said: "These are challenging times for local job seekers and this programme, backed by the CIH and leading housing partners, continues to deliver fantastic opportunities for talented and ambitious graduates.

"The programme also provides the right balance of work experience and structured learning, which meets the needs of potential employers.

"This combination makes the GEM programme a very attractive career proposition!"

Trevor Smith, director of the Centre for Partnership, said the venture was "demanding and rewarding".

"It provides a terrific opportunity for graduate job seekers to develop their skills and take their first steps on a professional route into the housing sector," he added.

"The support of the CIH makes it an even more attractive programme and a stronger career offer for young people."

The GEM programme was launched in 2009 in West Yorkshire and has since expanded to involve 20 housing associations in England and now Scotland.

Since the scheme went national in 2012, all the graduates entering the jobs market have gone on to successfully secure employment, with about 90 per cent moving into careers in social housing.

Contact the Centre for Partnership via info@centreforpartnership.co.uk or on 01274 254701 for more details about joining the programme.