A CAMPAIGN to help Hampshire graduates through the pandemic has its first major sponsor.

'Mind the Gap' has received a grant of £10,000 from Casella Family Brands.

The campaign by Winchester Creatives, a not-for-profit social enterprise, now needs four more businesses to help fund the scholarship programme.

It will provide opportunities to five recent graduates and give them five months of experience working on live challenges.

Kevin Chinn, marketing director for Casella, said: "We were very impressed with the professionalism and dedication of the crowdfunding campaign, and as a values-driven family run business which recognises the support that creatives offer us in order to help with our marketing plans, we wanted to do something to help.

"So, we have sponsored a Winchester Creatives apprentice which in turn will help us to help us identify new opportunities in the wine category and markets from a different and fresh perspective."

More than £6,000 was raised in the ‘Mind the Gap’ summer crowdfunding effort.

Winchester City Council provided an initial £2,000 grant and the money raised so far will provide some training and mentoring to creative students across Hampshire.

“Covid-19 has left a hole in the futures of Hampshire’s young creatives,” said Richard Coope, who also runs Brightful, a creative agency in Winchester.

“According to BBC Panorama and The Resolution Foundation, the UK level of unemployment has risen sharply, leaving 1 million under-25s out of a job for the foreseeable future. We’re doing something proactive to change this.

“Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far. We now need Winchester’s fine institutions and businesses to step-up and sponsor us to deliver the full social impact we hope to achieve. It’s about giving our local young people hope."

Dan Benham added: ‘We’re delighted to have Casella Family Brands (Europe) Ltd. as a sponsor and for them to help our initiative. And clearly there is a lot of community support for our local initiative helping young creatives during this difficult time. We hope to make a practical difference to people’s lives and help them get into much-needed jobs.

“Very often creative students are required to work for free in order to gain experience, and during the pandemic and recession this just seems to add insult to injury. We hope Winchester Creatives can go some way towards breaking down this barrier to entry.”