A former Salford care home is to be converted into premises for a yeshiva which trains its students to be fire cadets, construction workers and ambulance staff trainees.

The Darchei Torah Yeshiva helps strictly Orthodox school-leavers who performed poorly in secondary education to find employment.

Students have completed B-tech qualification in business, plumbing and property maintenance, as well as computer training.

Negotiations are ongoing with a health provider to add a cadet course in emergency medicine to a list of night courses to supplement its mentor-based day schedule of Jewish studies.

The yeshiva is acquiring the 35-bedroom care home site in a £400,000 scheme. The property will be partially renovated by the students as part of their training. Co-ordinator Yisroel Hassell said the yeshiva, which has operated for four years, was looking to expand to accommodate 25 teenagers and was applying for lottery funding.

But the local community is also being encouraged to donate to the specialist provider, which says it is the only yeshiva of its type in the UK.

“We need funds to service our mortgage and refurbish the building,” Mr Hassell said.

“It will include workshops for in-house training courses and we intend to rent office space on the top floor to make a sustainable business model for the yeshiva.

“The idea,” Mr Hassell explained, “is to give boys who fail in education the full opportunities to move on to college or university or to go into a job.”