BOLTON Lads and Girls Club (BLGC) member Daryl Hosker has become the first young person to win a job working with one of the charity’s major patrons.

The 18-year-old landed his first job at Bolton estate agent Miller Metcalfe as a sales and marketing professional.

He secured the position after Miller Metcalfe approached BLGC to help the company find a new member for their sales team.

It was the first time in the BLGC’s history that a major supporter and patron like Miller Metcalfe had approached the club with the chance of a job.

Miller Metcalfe said it was looking for a young person with good IT skills and an enthusiastic, outgoing personality to help promote its brand throughout the town.

BLGC responded by selecting two candidates for interview after its own tough internal selection process.

A delighted Daryl said: “This is my first job and I can’t wait to get involved. The selection process at the lads club was tough but it was helpful because I had never had a job interview before. I am very excited and feel very good about the job.

“The company has never had someone come to work for them from the lads club and I am really excited to be the first.”

He has been a member of BLGC for more than seven years where he works voluntarily as a BLGC Ambassador and he has a part-time job working as a youth worker with some of the club’s younger members during the holiday period. His new boss is Mike Picot, managing director of Miller Metcalfe’s survey and certification department, and business development manager for a new company, Enlighten Enviro.

He said: “Daryl was one of two young people sent to us for interview and it was a close run thing as both were very good.

“He performed very well at interview and he carried out the test we gave him very well. The other candidate was also very good.

“The quality of candidates was absolutely excellent and I am sure we will be giving employment to more young people from the lads’ club.”

BLGC has recently started a project called Pathways 2 Success, which aims atto put young people into further education, training or employment and so the timing could not have been better.

The Pathways team promoted the vacancy at evening youth club sessions. Members were asked to fill in application forms, and then take part in mock interviews to select candidates for the estate agents for an official interview.

About Daryl’s success, Simon Baker, events fundraiser for BLGC, said: “This is fantastic news and is great for the town and for Daryl but it also shows the fantastic impact that corporate supporters such as Miller Metcalfe have on BLGC.

“This is the first time that the club has been approached in this way for its support and we are thrilled that we were able to find someone for them. Fingers crossed it will be the first of many positive stories for the Pathways 2 Success team.”