My work requires me to inspect commercial and industrial buildings, and to arrange for their maintenance.
I recently applied for funding for an NVQ, but was turned down because I'm over 25. On my salary and with a family to support, I cannot afford to pay for the training.

We older people are being neglected. Only the younger generation is encouraged to get training, even though I'm told that 80% of them don't make it to the end of their courses. I think people like me should be encouraged to train by having equal access to funding. That's if the industry wants workers to stick with their jobs.

Postscript

Satpal Singh Birdi, via email.