A charity which supports the children of fallen service personnel has signed up for a government scheme which helps young people into work.

Kickstart is a new initiative for 16–24-year-olds on Universal Credit, where the government pays their salary during the course of a six-month work placement, based on them working 25 hours a week and earning the national minimum wage.

King's Lynn-based Scotty’s Little Soldiers has been chosen to take part in the scheme and is offering work placements in a number of roles including graphic design, fundraising, ecommerce and content creation for blogs and podcasts.

Now in its 11th year, Scotty's has grown into a lifeline for more than 400 children and young people.

Stuart Robinson, Scotty’s chief executive, said: “The charity has developed a lot, particularly over the past 18 months, and there is room for plenty more growth. The Kickstart scheme is a great opportunity for young people to gain experience working with an incredible team and we have some really interesting roles to fill.

“We currently have a graphic designer who originally came to Scotty’s on an internship. He wasn’t being paid, but he wanted to gain experience. He was so great that we ended up offering him a full-time paid job because we realised we couldn’t manage without him. He’s so busy that we actually now feel we need another graphic designer.

“The Kickstart scheme works really well for us as a charity, as well as providing young people with a great opportunity. As the team grows, we are able to offer more support to more members, raise awareness of our work and develop our income streams through fundraising and grants. To have people on board, with their salaries funded by the government for six months, is hugely beneficial to us financially.”

Scotty’s welcomes applicants and offers flexible working, unlimited holiday, a flat hierarchy and collaborative teamwork.

Mr Robinson said the culture at Scotty’s followed the business models employed by Gymshark, Netflix and Uber, all of which have experienced phenomenal growth in the last decade. He said it was more San Francisco Tech Start-Up than traditional UK charity.

For more details on opportunities with Scotty's, go to www.scottyslittlesoldiers.co.uk/jobs.