A regional daily newspaper has become the latest to launch a campaign to boost employment for young people by trying to find 100 apprenticeships in 100 days.

Archant Suffolk’s Ipswich-based Evening Star has started a ‘100 in 100 Apprenticeship’ drive to encourage local employers to take young people on.

The paper is running the campaign, which will officially begin in January, in conjunction with the National Apprenticeship Service and has already gained support from Ipswich Hospital – which has pledged to take on two young people.

It is the latest of a number of titles to launch similar drives to find 100 apprenticeships – in a bid to tackle unemployment in the wake of the economic downturn.

Evening Star editor Nigel Pickover said: “Over the coming weeks and months, we will feature young people who want to become apprentices, those already benefiting from the schemes, the companies that employ them and the organisations that train them.

“And we will show that by giving young people a chance to make their futures brighter, our businesses can reap the rewards today.”

The Evening Star is hoping to link up young people who are keen to start work but not quite ready to give up on their education with dozens of companies which could benefit from apprentices.

Julie Fryatt, human resources director at Ipswich Hospital, said: “We need to look at how we bring people into the workforce, especially at the moment when there are lots of people thinking about their options during a period of economic uncertainty.”