WHAT have 12,000 young people in Warrington started in the last 5 years?

The answer is: an apprenticeship.

Ten years ago, the vast majority of school leavers either went to university, to a further education college, or straight into a job – usually a fairly poorly paid job on the lowest rung of the ladder.

Of course, 20 or 30 years ago, it was quite common for school leavers to take on an apprenticeship in order to learn a trade but the trend declined somewhat as service sector jobs became all the rage.

But now apprenticeships are back and many young people now, rightly, see apprenticeships as an alternative to a degree – often a more attractive alternative.

The benefits of an apprenticeship are clear. Instead of racking up debts while you study, apprentices earn while they learn.

And it's not just book-learning either. Apprentices do a large amount of their training 'on the job', meaning that they pick up the soft skills that employers really value.

That's why so many apprentices end up landing a full time job at the company they trained with.

Regular Guardian readers will know that I hold a regular Jobs Fair to help people in the town find jobs so that they can earn a pay-packet and provide for their families.

This year's fair was held last Friday and I decided that I wanted a particular focus on apprenticeships.

It was great to see so many enthusiastic young people attending – some had already been to university and were looking for somewhere to start their career, others were looking for an alternative to university.

There weren't just apprenticeships on offer and a total of 30 organisations came along to offer employment opportunities to the people of Warrington.

What linked all the people that came to the fair was that they weren't prepared to sit around and wait for a good job to find them.

They were willing to go out of their way to put themselves in front of prospective employers and have the conversations.

I'd like to wish everyone who attended well in their search for a job or an apprenticeship.