By Vicki Owen

The fifth annual Apprenticeship Week starts tomorrow amid continued concern about the value of the Government-backed scheme.

The National Apprenticeship Service event aims to show the advantage of employing apprentices and promote apprenticeships as a career path for jobseekers.

Apprenticeships allow workers to study for qualifications while employed at low rates of pay. They cover everything from engineering to film-making.

Yet a report last week by the National Audit Office revealed that last year one fifth of apprenticeships lasted under six months with some as short as five weeks.

According to the auditors, 87 training providers are under investigation for running short schemes and 45 are changing their schemes after it was found there was no guarantee of a job for their apprentices.

The scandal of low-skill apprenticeships funded by the taxpayer was highlighted by Financial Mail last year.

Since then the Skills Funding Agency and the NAS have said apprenticeships that fall short of standard requirements risk losing funding.

The NAS has announced that from August all apprenticeships for 16 to 18-year-olds must last at least a year.

Jaine Bolton of the NAS says: ‘We aren’t complacent. We are working with the bodies who issue apprenticeship frameworks to ensure they pass the test of new learning and are tightening up so there are no loopholes.’

In one of the more unusual schemes apprentices set up a firm called Apprenterprise five months ago. Supported by training company Crossland and Dudson, a team of 16 to 19-year-olds say they have benefited from thinking up money-making initiatives, such as Clutter Busters, a service selling people’s unwanted goods.

Sian Crossland co-launched the scheme on behalf of Sussex Coast College, in Hastings.

She says: ‘We have created a business from scratch using students and doing the teaching as well.

‘The Government funds each student and we are given a percentage to ensure the apprentices achieve certain goals. We have created jobs within the company, such as accountant, publicity and stock room control, and they had to apply within the company. We interviewed and took the best and gave them increased pay.

‘Apprentices get £2.60 per hour, but those that got the management jobs get £100 rather than £78 for a 30-hour week. As we turn a profit they will also get a percentage.’

Apprenterprise’s accountant, George Smith, 17, from Eastbourne, says: ‘It was a completely new experience. We went straight in and did everything ourselves. We get to be the bosses for once. You have control and take risks. It has opened my eyes to how a business is run and how difficult it is.’

The firm’s media manager, Rob Osborne, 17, from Bexhill-on-Sea, says the experience has raised his aspirations and helped him realise what he wants to do. ‘I am more ambitious now,’ he says.

>> Take a look at Clutter Busters in Hastings now

More than one quarter of 19-24 year-olds who cannot recall any contact with employers while at school are now not in education, employment or training (NEET), according to new research by the charity.

Meanwhile less than five per cent of those surveyed who had taken part in four or more activities involving employers (such as career insights, mentoring, work tasters, work experience) are NEET.

The survey, ‘It’s who you  meet: Why employer contacts at school make a difference to the employment prospects of young adults’, shows that only seven per cent of young adults can recall four or more activities of employer engagement having taken place while at school.

While 98 per cent of 333 teenage pupils surveyed by Deloitte in 2010 wanted to have more involvement with employers, only 42 per cent had spoken to someone from the workplace about jobs and careers.

The greatest impacts can be expected on those young people whose families have weakest access to relevant sources of career insights, such as the two million children who live in workless households.

According to the Education and Employers Taskforce, countries with the greatest success in dealing with youth unemployment typically include extensive workplace exposure within their educational programmes.

It also argues young people are especially attentive and trusting of first-hand information about jobs and career pathways received from employers.

Who Cares has been launched by the Financial section of the Mail on Sunday to offer advice, help and support to the millions of people in Britain today who are affected by the chronic difficulties of old age, whether they are elderly themselves or helping to care for older relatives and friends.

So many people now find themselves plunged into the confusing world of benefits, entitlements, dementia, care homes and home care. It can be a huge battle for younger relatives and a struggle for anyone since one of the worst aspects of this world is a sense of isolation.

It is hard to know which way to turn.

In a series of articles and blogs, Who Cares will be offering hard facts and straightforward advice to help you find your way through the maelstrom.

We want to create a community that includes you and offers genuine support. This will be a place where you can share your stories and where we will be campaigning to help push all these issues up the agenda..

>>Who Cares wants to hear your questions and concerns, your thoughts and your experiences. You can contact us by posting at the end of any of our articles or blogs, or you can email us direct on whocares@fmwf.com.

For Advice on:

Benefits and Entitlements click here

Home Care click here

Dementia click here

Living and residential care click here

Important Contacts click here

Sarah Whitebloom’s blog click here.

A survey of 2,000 adults showed that almost a third were planning a spring holiday, compared with an average of around one in five over the past three years.

Savings firm ING Direct said its study confirmed a decline in the number of people taking summer holidays in recent years.

Chief executive Richard Doe said: “It’s understandable that families are choosing not to go on holiday during the summer months when they can get away in the spring for much less and save money.

“This is compounded by the fact we’re set for a outstanding summer of sport, with one of the greatest sporting events in the world taking place on our doorstep.”

According to the NHS, 25,000 to 30,000 deaths are linked to the cold weather in the UK every year.

Here is some advice on staying warm and making the best use of heating at home:

:: Keep your home warm during the day

Heat your living room to 18C-21C (64F-70F) and the rest of the house to at least 16C (61F).

Heat all the rooms you use in the day and your bedroom before you go to bed.

Set the timer on your heating to come on before you wake up and switch off when you go to bed.

:: Stay warm and safe at night

Try to keep the temperature above 18C (65F) in your bedroom overnight.

Never use hot water bottles in the same bed as an electric blanket, even if the blanket is switched off.

:: Wrap up warm

Several thin layers are better than one thick one.

Wear clothes made of wool, cotton or fleecy synthetic fibres.

Remember a hat, scarf and gloves when you go out, and wear bed socks and thermal underwear at night.

:: Eat well

Have plenty of hot food and drinks.

Regular meals will help maintain your energy levels.

:: Keep moving

Exercise is good for keeping you warm in winter. Try to move around at least once an hour.

:: Insulation

Fit draught excluders to seal gaps around windows and doors.

Ensure your loft has at least 10in (25cm) of insulation.

:: Financial support

Money may be available through the Warm Front scheme, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments.

>> If you are worried about an elderly person you can contact Age UK on 0800 169 8787 or click the link to visit www.ageuk.org.uk

>> Click here to visit FMWF’s Debt Advice section

If you read my first Diary of a Young Debtor entry, you may be wondering how on earth I am going to pay my rent which is due out this week… because I know I was.

Well, I found a solution. Admittedly, not an ideal one: I have opened up a new credit card. My rent HAS to be paid and I HAVE to be able to get to work. I don’t know what else I could have done.

When I wrote that post my HSBC credit card was almost entirely at its limit (balance: minus £3,646, credit available: £104) and I was also paying loads of interest (about £50 per month).

So I have transferred my credit card debt to a new Barclaycard Platinum credit card which is O% interest (I found the offer via this article). I don’t know why I didn’t transfer it elsewhere before. It is just stupid and lazy that I didn’t, because I’m now £50 per month better off without even changing my lifestyle.

If I miss a payment I will lose the O% interest offer, which lasts 24 months, so I have to keep a close eye on it, but it seems to have worked out so far.

…It also means my HSBC credit card has been freed-up for me to continue recklessly using it to pay my rent (erm, yes – I did say it wasn’t an ideal solution). I’m committed to getting in credit now, though, and as soon as I can pay it off I will.

This month I have already saved money by smoking less (one packet of 20 and one packet of 10 cigarettes this entire month, compared to about one packet of 20 every two days last month), scavenging from my parents’ fridge and cupboards (this is fine by them as long as I don’t take the… biscuit) and cancelling my £30 per month Virgin Media broadband (and using my parents’ connection at home instead for now).

I’m feeling like a bit of a paragon of virtue. One packet of cigarettes in a month! This seems semi-miraculous! I don’t want to get too smug though, because I have a long way to go. It is much easier to cut back on spending when everyone is on a post-Christmas/New-Year-health-drive and the pubs are quiet (ahem, and when you are living with your parents and scrounging internet and food off them).

I am genuinely in this getting-out-of-debt-mission for the long-haul though, and I now have two lots of credit card payments instead of one, so I can’t start celebrating yet.

 >> Follow me on Twitter: @diaryofadebtor

>> FMWF would like to know your views and hear about the issues affecting you and those you care for. You can comment below or email whocares@fmwf.com.

By Sarah Whitebloom

Another voice cried in the wilderness: something has to be done urgently over the mess that is care for the elderly in Britain today. Older people all over the country have been abandoned to their fate. It is a national disgrace. And lo it came to pass that nothing was done – or at least not yet.

Last week [24 February] the Commons Health Select Committee became the latest group to warn about the burgeoning crisis in care for the elderly. The Alzheimer’s Society, Age UK and a host of others must be hoarse by now with all the wilderness crying they have been doing. Even the Government, as Who Cares? noted last year, has been making all sorts of noise about the need to improve the way we treat the elderly.

Yet the King’s Fund estimates there are about 800,000 older people who need care but receive none. Many others get some help but are barely managing, despite being in chronic need.

And what has been the response of our local authorities? These august authorities, that are charged with delivering care to the elderly, are cutting care services and upping their charges. The Select Committee found that two thirds of councils were slashing their social care budgets while half had increased what the elderly have to pay. The fees that councils will pay for care homes have also gone down and it’s getting more difficult in some areas even to get hand rails and other living aids provided.

This will come as no surprise, of course, to anyone trying to get help for elderly relatives. The switchboard operator at our local authority told me last week that I would be lucky if the area adult help desk answered my call. She told me: ‘It’s easier to speak to God than one of them.’

Six phone calls later and I have managed only a brief conversation with someone from the Help Desk, who phoned to tell me he was going to get back to me. As yet, I have heard nothing, although my call concerned a pressing matter.

Of course, in this current climate, councils are having to make less money go further and they are having to make cuts in some of their services. Care budgets offer a big, fat opportunity for them to save money. And elderly people are not often in a position to complain or make a fuss. So, it may be a shocking disgrace, but it is not surprising that services for older people are being lined up to take such deep cuts.

One local authority chief told me that it was a difficult balancing act. He maintained they are trying to target the funding at people who really need it, cutting out those who abuse services.

Given the rigorous means testing and interviews, it seems unlikely that there are legions of elderly care scroungers, sponging off local authorities. Indeed, it is difficult to get many older people to seek help, even if they need it and qualify for it. All too often, one hears stories of older people insisting that they can manage, even when they clearly cannot.  All this will only discourage them further.

But if all those 800,000, who receive no help, were given the assistance they need, how on earth would councils pay for it from their reduced care budgets?

The Select Committee said ‘fundamental changes are needed in the way social care is delivered’. But it acknowledged that until the Government puts a new system in place, there is not much that can be done.

So all eyes are now on the Government. It is due to put forward proposals on the future funding of social care this Spring. Finally an answer to those voices in the wilderness? It couldn’t get any worse… could it?

The firm’s £9 million apprenticeship academy is on track to provide 2,000 places for young people by 2014, it was announced today.

Peter Marks, chief executive of The Co-operative Group, said: “Youth unemployment is spiralling with over one million 16- to 25-year-olds out of work. Coupled with the unpredictable economic future, it’s no surprise that some young people feel unsupported and demotivated.

“We believe businesses have a real responsibility to open doors for young people by giving them opportunities to gain new skills, knowledge and experience so that together we can build a strong and successful future for young people and our country.

“Through our apprenticeship academy, we are offering young people across the UK proper jobs with qualifications and real career opportunities.

“With a quarter of our employees under the age of 25, eventually we want to make them all apprentices and I would encourage other big businesses to follow suit.

“The professionalism and enthusiasm shown by all of the apprentices we have recruited so far shows just how much young people have to offer.

“There are so many young people looking for opportunities such as this and we have been overwhelmed by the hard work and commitment our new apprentices have already shown in their roles.”

The announcement comes ahead of National Apprenticeship Week from next Monday.

>> Click here to visit FMWF’s Debt Advice section

I have decided to try and get out of my tenancy agreement for the flat I have lived in for the past year or so.

It swallows up more than half of my salary and – while it is not unusually expensive for a flat in London, it is about average – if I can find somewhere even marginally cheaper it would really help.

My previous flat was a little one bedroom place that I shared with an ex-boyfriend, so once split between us cost half as much as this, a two bedroom flat with a separate kitchen and living room, which I share with a friend.

Rent, especially in London, is astronomical. It doesn’t surprise me at all to read articles like this one this week saying owning a home has become more than £100 a month cheaper than renting. Paying rent really does feel like throwing money down the toilet. And, as anyone who has read my previous Diary of a Young Debtor entry knows, I definitely cannot afford a house!

But sharing properties with more rooms (e.g. four or five bedroom houses) works out much cheaper and I think I made a mistake to ignore that fact and move into a two-bedroom flat with a friend just over a year ago.

Anyway – back to my current situation. I’m still paying rent as the agreement is not up for a few months and I am liable to keep paying if a new tenant doesn’t replace me. But if new tenants are found then I can pay a fee to get out of the contract and find somewhere cheaper to live. Fingers crossed…

In the mean time I have moved back in with my parents(!)… Is this really progress!?

Well, yes, I think it is (for now!). I’m sure my parents don’t entirely think so (I’m in my mid-twenties!), and I know I am really lucky that I have this option while I am between homes.

It seems to be a growing trend among people my age. I have friends that have moved back with their parents not just when between homes, but for months at a time to save money (for example for a deposit for a house or equipment for their career).

I thought moving out of my flat and in with my parents would feel like a step in the wrong direction, but actually I just feel relieved that I am taking action and getting things in order.

As I packed up my things I didn’t feel sad, even though I have had great times in that flat, but excited about my life which I am taking control of.

 >> Follow me on Twitter: @diaryofadebtor

>> Here are some tweets I have received about this diary entry. Thanks again for your feedback…

@debt_s_trust:  hard decision you’ve taken but for the right reasons, it’s all about the income and expenditure. Well done and good luck!

@debt_s_trust: fantastic news piece. Your story encourages others to take action and control of their debt problem.

@debtology: One of the key tasks in managing your finances better: maximising your income & assessing your expenditure.

@dketfp: Your blog is interesting and at least you’re making an effort to get out of debt….most people my age are still in denial!

@dketfp: rent in London must be crippling but I would think its the spending on London lifestyle/fashion that does the damage.

@dketfp: whenever I come down to London & I’m on the tube its like my clothes are 5 years out of date!

@meandmyshapes: at least your fridge will be full now!

@garethcare: a sensible short-term move, definitely. Puts you in more control of finances. How will you use the money you save?

Are you seeking ways to boost your battered income? The answer could be closer to home than you think. There is money to be made by taking in a lodger, or by renting out space on the driveway or in the loft.

One in ten homeowners earns extra cash by letting a room to a lodger, according to Santander bank. These ‘rent-a-room’ entrepreneurs are raking in a total of £3.9billion a year – an average of £182 a month.

Homeowners can charge up to £4,250 a year without incurring tax on the rent. You can charge more, but will have to declare all the income on a self-assessment tax form each year. The benefit of paying the tax is that you can claim back tax relief for wear and tear and maintenance of the lodger’s room.

There are many websites – such as spareroom.com and mondaytofriday.com – that enable you to advertise your spare room. Or you could let the room short term or nightly to tourists and earn up to £50 a night. Crashpadder.com lists spare accommodation offered in a similar way to a hotel room.

Spare loft, shed and garage space can also bring in money. Storemates.co.uk enables owners to advertise any spare storage space. The idea is that for a small fee – much lower than renting commercially – neighbours can help each other out.

Susie Diamond, 38, a structural engineer from Cricklewood, north-west London, listed her loft space on the site two weeks ago and has already been bombarded with requests from neighbours.

‘We have a large attic that we would eventually like to convert into a bedroom,’ says Susie, who lives with husband Neil, a teaching assistant, and their two children, Hugh, 7, and Helen, 4. ‘We can’t afford to do that at present so when I heard about storemates it seemed like a hasslefree way to earn a bit of extra cash.’

Storage providers pay nothing to register with Storemates but once a space is rented they must pay an ‘introduction fee’ equivalent to two weeks’ rent. Susie has advertised her attic space for £10 a week, but says this is negotiable. ‘Even if we made only £20 or £30 a month, we can put it towards treats,’ she says. ‘And it’s nice to feel we are getting to know local people and helping them out.

‘Of course, I would always want to know what was being stored and I will make people sign a contract so I have no liability for their items in the event of fire or flood damage.’

Websites such as parkatmyhouse.com, parkonmydrive.com and parklet.co.uk match up drivers who need a parking space, perhaps for their weekly commute, and households that can help. The website takes a cut from the deal, typically about 15 per cent.

You must speak to your mortgage lender before letting a room as some impose restrictions. Some landlords may not allow you to sub-let a rented property.

It is important to check these details as you could render your mortgage or tenancy agreement invalid. There is more information on the Rent a Room scheme at direct.gov.uk, click here.

Renting out a room, storage space or a parking space will also have implications for your home cover so speak to your insurer. It will usually expect you to have a contract in place to remove any liability for theft or damage, for example to a vehicle while it is on your property or goods in your attic that are not yours.

If you live alone and then take in a lodger, remember you will lose your single person’s council tax discount, currently 25 per cent.