Nearly 40 people have set off on a new career path, and their first stop is the Glastonbury Festival.

The West Cumbrian workers have been taken on by Whitehaven training and security firm Three Lions after completing a pre-employment programme through Inspira.

They will spend the summer working with the firm, beginning by providing security cover at the popular Somerset music event.

Mayor of Copeland Mike Starkie and county councillor Emma Williamson.

Three Lions owner Barry Horabin, from Whitehaven, said: “This is a great opportunity for people in West Cumbria. Everyone is really pleased to be heading off today.”

Inspira and Three Lions worked together to increase the skills of unemployed people, enabling them to become qualified and licensed door supervisors and security guards.

Mr Starkie: “It’s fantastic to see these people go off to represent themselves at an event of international importance like Glastonbury. I commend them on completing their course and I’m sure they will use this opportunity to increase their skills and experience and move forward in their industry.

"This kind of tailored training is clearly effective, and I congratulate Inspira and its partners.”

The pre-employment programme was funded through the European Social Fund, and commissioned by the Skills Funding Agency on behalf of the Cumbria LEP and LESE partnership respectively.

Councillor Williamson said: “It’s great to see another successful group of people gaining employment thanks to the collaboration of Inspira and Three Lions. Partnership working around employability skills and opportunities is key to enabling those who require up skilling, training and often chance is clearly the key to success. Well done to all those who worked hard to achieve the accreditation and secure employment."

Inspira delivers sector focused pre-employment programmes throughout Cumbria, designed to match jobseekers with local jobs.

The programmes aims are to update and improve the skills of participants so that they can compete effectively in the labour market.

It also aims to help people overcome barriers to work.

Deborah Naylor, area operations manager for Inspira, said: “The Inspira team are helping people to move into and progress in sustainable employment. We are doing this by providing bespoke employment support as not everyone has the same barriers or job goals, so we tailor our support to be as effective as we can be.

"We have a great local training support network which is proven by the work that Three Lions have carried out not only offering first class training but by employing the people they have trained, giving them a great opportunity over the summer gaining valuable work experience that will look great on a CV."

Friday, June 28 is UK Employability Day, which celebrates the work of organisations such as Inspira.