The Mayor and Mayoress were the special guests at a graduation ceremony for mature students in Barking.

The Diaspora Community Projects (DCP) is a black and minority ethnic organisation which trains and helps the career advancement of people from local communities with particular focus on employment.

Graduates from DCP received their certificates at the event on Thursday, December 5, in the Ripple Centre, Ripple Road, in front of Cllr Hardial Singh Rai and Gian Kaur Rai.

DCP provide training for a number of job related skills programmes including NVQs and apprenticeships in Health and Social Care, Business and Administration, Security and Cleaning.

Thomas Musau, DCP director, said: “Due to various personal circumstances of our graduates, many of the people who received certificates have never had any formal qualifications so it was a memorable occasion for them, their friends and relatives.”

For more information visit www.diasporacp.org