Iain Salisbury and a number of the learndirect team are fundraising for Walking With The Wounded. Raising funds to retrain and re-skill our wounded Service Personnel and support them in finding new careers outside the Military

The challenge is called The Tougher – which is a 33k hike with 1650m of altitude gain.

The number of temporary jobs available to young people through the flagship Jobs Growth Wales scheme is higher than expected after a target was reached a year early.

Jobs Growth Wales has created more than 13,000 opportunities for 16 to 24-year-olds since it was launched in 2012, and Ministers say that 82 per cent taken on by private firms move into apprenticeships, more learning or jobs.

Universal credit, the government's recasting of the welfare benefits system, has had to be reorganised so fundamentally that the government watchdog responsible for grading its implementation, the Major Projects Authority (MPA) has judged that it is now an entirely new project.

Research by The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) has revealed that by hiring and supporting disabled people on to their Apprenticeship schemes, employers have found that they are better able to extend the pool of high quality applicants available to them, engage with the widest possible consumer base and have a workforce that reflects the diverse range of customers they serve.

Scotland's vocational education system must be improved if youth unemployment is to fall, according to a new report published by a commission chaired by businessman, Sir Ian Wood.

Around 350 organisations have signed up to boycott the community work placement part of the government’s workfare programme, including 13 councils and a selection of homelessness charities.

The scheme is part of the government’s help to work programme under which participants must either sign on at a Jobcentre every day, take up a training course or carry out a six-month, 30-hour-a-week placement.

The European Commission has adopted the first Operational Programme with France to use the available funding from the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) to tackle youth unemployment. France will receive €620 million from the YEI and the European Social Fund (ESF) to help young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) to find a job, in those regions with youth unemployment rates over 25 per cent.

A new report published by The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) has found that by 2022 - nine out of ten of the most in-demand occupations of the future will be attained by completing vocational qualifications.

The European Commission has called on the UK government to ensure its welfare reforms contribute to the reduction of child poverty in low-income households in a new report entitled “Building growth: Country-specific recommendations 2014.”

The wide-ranging report said that universal credit and other changes to the welfare system must "deliver adequate benefits by providing clear work incentives and support services," and that improving the availability of affordable quality childcare, was central to this.

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills has published the findings of the Employer Skills Survey 2013 in Wales. The survey, which included measures of skills shortages and internal skills mismatches, such as skills gaps and training, found that one in five vacancies is proving difficult to fill due to a skills shortage.

The European Commission has welcomed the adoption by the EU's Council of Ministers of a Decision to improve cooperation between public employment services, which have a crucial role to play in helping the 25 million unemployed in Europe to get a job and in addressing skills mismatches.

New figures show that the proportion of young people aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training (NEET) is at the lowest comparable level since 2005 - with the percentage of teenagers NEET at its lowest since records began.

The figures, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Education (DfE), show that for England in the first quarter of 2014 (January to March) compared to the same period in 2013:

From autumn, anyone who loses their job will receive £40 less as a result of government plans to make people wait for longer for any job support, according to a new consultation published by the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) – an official body that advises the Department of Work and Pensions on benefits issues.

For the first time, Jobcentre Plus, in partnership with local authorities, will implement a new approach that focuses support solely on 16-17 year olds who are not in education, employment or training and not in receipt of an income-based benefit.

Parents play a key role in their children's career decisions, but their views are often out of date and badly informed, suggests a new report published by the Association of Colleges (AoC).