Back in the late 1990s, things were looking grim for Sheffield City Council’s building contractors. No sooner had workers repaired buildings in the city’s deprived estates, than they got vandalised again. It had become a vicious – not to mention expensive and demoralising – cycle of events. Until, that is, it was decided to enlist the help of the vandals themselves to make the repairs.

Almost 10 years on, that seed of an idea has grown into the City Stewardship programme, run in partnership with Kier Building Maintenance (KBM); training company Community Training Services (CTS), which teaches basic literacy and numeracy to participants; and Sheffield Homes, which manages more than 42,000 council houses. It brings together the city’s disaffected youth with KBM’s skilled tradespeople – typically a joiner, plasterer, plumber, or painter and decorator – to work on projects such as gardening for elderly people or refurbishing empty properties. In doing so, the programme reaches out to 16-18 year olds who otherwise would not have entered into employment, creates a talent pipeline for the future of the company and develops the skills of existing staff.