A twin town link is giving High Peak residents a chance to experience work placements in Germany.

Local charity Zink is working with Buxton/Bad Nauheim Twinning Association to offer the placements.

Travel, accommodation, insurance and the cost of a passport are all paid for thanks to grant funding.

Paul Bohan, CEO at Zink, explained the reasoning behind the scheme.

He said: "Work experience abroad is usually only funded for higher education students.

“This scheme opens it up to people who haven’t gone to university; we think it will be a life changing experience, challenging, and exciting. It’ll be really impressive on a CV and give participants a new view of what they are capable of.”

Places will be offered to those in the area who are unemployed or working a few hours a week or on a zero-hour contract and looking for more sustainable work.

Six weekly German language lessons will be available before the trip so participants will get to know each other before travelling for the placements in the middle of September.

“Zink has already hosted work experience placements for foreign nationals, we’re expecting a Bad Nauheim resident early next year,” said Paul, “Participants from the UK can expect a warm welcome from our German twin town!”

A research project will run alongside the work experience to understand benefits with the aim of providing evidence to increasing funding for non-university work placements abroad. It is anticipated that the first trip will be the start of an ongoing reciprocal arrangement subject to funding being available.

For more information or to apply, email paul@zink.org.uk or ring 01298 214926.

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