Margot Shane has until November 15 to raise roughly $30,000 — the final stretch of a $50,000 campaign to fund a trades internship programme for young Bermudians.

The initiative has already secured backing from the Centennial Bermuda Foundation, provided she meets the full target. To date, Ms Shane has raised $10,000 and hopes to double it through a private fundraiser next month.

But with the deadline looming, she admits the last $30,000 will be an uphill climb.

“I’ve got grant applications sprayed around the corporate giving sector, but I don't know whether I'm going to get there or not,” she said.

The trades internship programme is a natural extension of SkillCraft Youth Internship, the charity Ms Shane founded to give 16 to 20-year-olds broader “access and exposure to career opportunities”.

She believes that, despite broad support for the idea, meaningful training opportunities in the trades are few and far between. Through talks with tradespeople and interested students, she discovered that even when opportunities exist, the pathway to a career often feels fragmented and difficult to navigate.

“You can do your [National Centre for Construction Education and Research] basic construction skills programme at CedarBridge or Berkeley, but how do you take that forward?”

Students with family in the trades assumed their relatives would help, but none could walk her through a concrete plan.

“Anyone who really wants to pursue a trade is often at a loss for where to start. There’s no centralised training body to help them take the next step. That’s where SkillCraft comes in: a place where you can get this training and, if you want, transition into the next step — but also a place where anyone can try their hand at the trades.”

The charity head also found that it was primarily students who did not excel in traditional academic studies who were steered towards trades.

“It should be a career path potentially available to anyone,” she said. “And so part of what I hope to do with this programme is to say to any kid, no matter [where their interests or skills lie], here’s an opportunity to try something different.”

It was not so dissimilar to her own experiences, which partly inspired the creation of SkillCraft.

“The pathway from education to employment was not clear to me despite every single privilege in the book. School did not enable me, in a practical way, to explore how my identity and preferences show up in the workplace,” she said. “I discovered that for myself through career coaching — and through a lot of unpaid work that through my networks I was able to obtain.”

Ms Shane continued: “The vision for SkillCraft is a network of experiential career learning internships, where young people come into a programme in an industry, they participate in that industry for a short period of time, earning a certification, and then they can choose what they do with that. Do they go forward with it, or do they leave it behind and try something else?”

SkillCraft’s flagship programme is a six-week social-media course that combines classroom learning with hands-on experience in a business setting.

It is an approach supported by organisations such as MDRC, a US-based non-profit that evaluates programmes for low-income populations. A 2008 report by the institution found that career academies can significantly boost employment and earnings for young men of colour, putting them on a stronger trajectory in the labour market.

“There is a lot of research showing that vocational training is an excellent way to re-engage young men in society, particularly young men of colour,” Ms Shane said. “My measurement of success is not how many people I made into social-media managers; my measurement of success is how their workplace skills developed.”

She added: “Did you become more open to feedback? Did you become more aware of how you can take initiative and when it is appropriate to do so? Did you improve in your willingness to learn? Were you punctual? If you weren’t punctual, did you make improvements in that area?”

Students who sign up will receive basic training from Allanette Hayward, the founder of Urban Construction Services. The charity has also partnered with the Adult Education School — participants can complete a career and identity assessment designed to match their strengths and preferences with potential job opportunities.

Ms Shane explained that the plan is to focus on young men aged 18 to 24. Boys often mature more slowly than girls, she said, and at 16 many are not ready to make lasting career choices.

“I've encountered quite a few young men who have tried to go off to university and for one reason or the other, it hasn't worked. They come back here and their parents say, ‘Well, you can't just sit around. You’ve got to find some work.’ They end up working hustles and not really being intentional about what they're doing, and there is no path or structure that can support them,” she said.

“And so those are the people I’d like to catch. These young men who have fallen out of a traditional pathway for whatever reason and want some structure and support in taking the next step — without that next step being, ‘I’m gonna sit on a truck, and when I get bored of this truck, I’m gonna bounce to the next truck. And if anyone asks me what I want to do, I’m gonna tell them I want to be a personal trainer, or I want to be in finance, or I want to do real estate …’ when, really, they just have no idea.”

Participation is free, with health insurance and a stipend provided for the duration of the programme.

“What I hear from all of these tradesmen about how they got started is Daddy or Uncle or whoever has them at 13 or 14 in their shop with them. That is the traditional on-ramp. But if Daddy or Uncle isn't a tradesperson, then that access and exposure isn't there for you.”

Ms Shane believes many young people would be interested in trades, but feel held back by societal expectations.

“This is supposition — not fact,” she said. “My guess is that they don’t feel they can admit their interest because they worry about being looked down upon. Everything is so academically focused; no status is attached to saying you’d like to pursue trades.”

The beauty of her plan is that it gives the opportunity to learn more about what is involved without making a commitment.

“They can get a job, or they decide they don't like it and they can go and explore something else.”

• Learn more about SkillCraft Youth Internship atwww.skillcraft.bm. Donations to the trades internship programme can be made atskillcraft.bm/donate