The founders of the the Transforming a Generation (TAG) initiative, aimed at unemployed, disenfranchised teenagers and young adults, are looking to expand the scheme following a successful pilot period.

The first group of youths selected for the TAG initiative have completed their training and gained recognised qualifications in active leisure last month.

The six-month scheme, developed specifically for 18-24 year olds who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs) and who have limited professional and career opportunities, was launched last September.

The initiative is the brainchild of Fred Turok, founder and chair of LA Fitness, and was developed by a team of senior training professionals and potential employers. Other trustees and board members include Stephen Studd, group CEO of SkillsActive and Heather Frankham, chief executive of Lifetime.

The programme, delivered by training company Lifetime with the support of LA Fitness clubs, aims to train participants to Level 2 (theory and practice) and to give them the soft skills necessary to get a job.

With a 70 per cent pass rate – according to a TAG spokesperson the normal pass rate for NEETs is less than 50 per cent – the pilot has been declared a success and the board is looking to open TAG centres in North London, South London and East London within the next six to nine months.

Fred Turok has announced that his ambition is to have 100 TAG Centres nationwide, within five years.

"As a society, we are failing these youths," said a statement from the trustees. "Not only do they slip into a parallel society where law breaking, drug taking, violence and often violent death are the currency of their lives, but there is a strong possibility that they will either be the perpetrators or the victims of violence and crime.

"We believe very passionately that we must engage with this community because at a societal level we cannot afford to lose this generation just because they fail to fit a popular social and educational template and, at a personal level, every young person deserves the right to self-actualisation and self-fulfilment."

TAG is a registered charity and was incorporated in 2008.