Company History
In 1984, Shildon saw the loss of hundreds of jobs at the British Railways Wagon Works based at the heart of the town for over 100 years. As a result of this, Shildon Town Council set up a company by the name of Shildon Managing Agency under the Community Programme to assist with the regeneration of the town that was devastated by the loss of the Towns main Industry.
However, in 1993, as a result of the intervention of the Audit Commission it was decided the organisation should have a complete separate existence from the Town Council which saw the formation of a private limited company by guarantee: Shildon and Darlington Training Ltd now formally known as S&D Training. This gave the organisation the flexibility to support its charitable training activities through the delivery of its services to business and other fee paying clients.
Our programmes were designed and developed on the fundamental belief that there is a job for everyone, everyone is entitled to a second chance, and the organisation's role is to eliminate the barriers that lead to worklessness for each individual. We knew we could not do this alone. Local employers, the Connexions Service, Jobcentre Plus, other learning providers and many other organisations have bought into this vision, and are working with us for the benefit of learners and clients.
That fundamental belief in our learners continues to guide the organisation and 20 years on S&D Training can boast that it has directly helped more than 2500 individuals to find employment and 4500 on our courses by addressing their barriers to work and through training or re-training. In this market niche, we now engage learners across South Durham, an area that holds seven of the most deprived wards in the County. We have built on our mission to deliver programmes across an age range of 14 to 65, including vocational programs in partnership with local schools and the local college, the entry to employment programme (e2e), apprenticeships and New Deal, mixing and matching programmes to provide best use of limited resources.