THE achievements of students at a Brierley Hill training company were celebrated at an event attended by a top former footballer and the Deputy Mayor of Dudley.

Ex-England and Wolves football player Mel Eaves and Dudley's Deputy Mayor, Councillor Mohammed Hanif, were special guests at the Celebrating Success event, at the David Lloyd Dudley leisure centre in Brierley Hill, organised by Juniper Training to highlight the achievements of young people who have completed the firm's Mint training course.

JThe training company, based at The Waterfront, holds the event twice a year to trumpet the success of students on its Mint training course which is delivered at 12 sites across the country - five of which are in the Black Country, including Brierley Hill and Dudley.

More than 120 people from the education and business sectors attended the latest celebratory event, staged yesterday (Wednesday May 18), and a host of awards were handed out to high achieving students.

Paul Nightingale, Juniper's performance manager, said “We really believe in the potential of our students and using this Celebrating Success event to showcase this is a must for us.

"I am extremely proud of the students and their achievements, I would also like to thank David Lloyd Dudley who welcomed us to use their facilities to host the occasion."

The free Mint training programme for youngsters aged 16 to 18 (or those aged 16 to 24 suffering learning disabilities and difficulties) aims to offer students chance to gain skills and qualifications needed to progress into apprenticeships, jobs with training or further education.

Over the last 12 months - students completing the course have moved into work areas including accounts, administration, animal care, child care, carpentry, catering, construction, dentistry, electrical engineering, hair and beauty, horticulture, IT, leisure, media, retail, sport coaching and youth work.