For 17-year-old Josh Higgens, it was the first time he had been overseas. And the chance to work on the renovation of an eco-chateau in Normandy has been the opportunity of a lifetime.

The 30-bedroom chateau in the west of France is home to a vast and ambitious project. Spanning 17.5 acres, the estate will eventually include a small farm and market garden, a Gite, log cabins, a camping field for yurts, a small community of Earthships, sustainably managed fishing ponds and willow coppicing.

The highlight will be a carbon-negative hotel running environmentally- focused training courses aimed at people who are marginalised in the job market. The whole complex will, eventually, be self-sufficient in energy and food, pumping electricity generated from renewable sources back to the grid.

But for now, the run-down mansion house is exactly that – run-down. The Eco-Chateau isn’t scheduled to be finished for another five years but, in the meantime, its renovation is providing a rich training ground helping to get school leavers into work.

Josh and fellow student Jordan Miller both left school at 16. They are shy, reluctant to talk much and sit back with their arms crossed and “do not disturb” expressions.

The Moulsecoomb teenagers are both on a 22-week construction course with Nacro, a crime reduction charity helping young people into education, training or employment.

Jordan finished his schooling with no exams and says until his mother told him about the course he was “just dossing”. Josh had taken a sports leadership course and came to Nacro through Connexions, a Government-funded organisation helping young people make their way in the world after finishing their formal education.

For two weeks of the course, six students are given the opportunity to head over to Tinchebray in the Normandy region to work on the 18th-century chateau.

This is the second year students from Nacro have made the trip to France and last year yielded great successes. Course facilitator Ralf Hubbard says he saw huge changes in his students during those two weeks, that they grew in confidence and interpersonal skills and that they went on to jobs or college.

He says: “It’s all designed so students learn to take responsibility for themselves. We don’t parent them, we treat them like adults so they can learn to make adult decisions.”

On arrival at the eco-chateau, the students are left to set up a “mini-democracy”. They are given guidelines and told what needs doing but then it’s up to them to organise and coordinate themselves.

Ralf says: “Of course there are problems and ups and downs, but it’s the problem-solving they learn from. It’s about how they deal with it.”

It’s a method that clearly works, and both Josh and Jordan become more animated when talk turns to the time they spent in France.

Jordan explains they met up with another group from Kent, were put into pairs and threes and were able to “just crack on with it”. Josh says: “It was better working that way because you don’t get people telling you what to do and being bossy. It was easier just to get on and do it. It made me feel like it was my responsibility to work and it made me want to work more and do it properly.”

So were there any problems? Both boys shrug but don’t seem at all phased by any hiccups they may have encountered. Jordan says some bits were stressful, such as not having enough tools to go around, but they all just dealt with it. Josh comments on one person from the Kent group who was “really lazy at first and didn’t cooperate with anyone, but when we got to work he worked good”.

Ralf adds: “It’s not like a boot camp. We could have gone down that route very easily but that wouldn’t work in the same way. We leave them to figure out the best way for themselves.”

The chateau, previously an old people’s home, is still in the very early stages of renovation, but sustainable design is being implemented right from the outset and even the short two-week courses are designed to build an awareness of environmental issues.

Josh and Jordan endured a “boring”, but carbon-lite, 12-hour Eurostar journey to get there, and even when they were clearing out rubble or stripping floors of tiles, nothing was left to waste with wood going on the bonfire, rocks used as hardcore and tiles and old wallpaper recycled.

The trip wasn’t solely about construction though. Before setting off, the group had basic French lessons and when overseas were encouraged to speak the language, try food and experience the culture. They travelled around, visited the Eiffel Tower and Mont St Michel and had adventures trying to understand directions to the public conveniences.

Josh insists he spoke French to everyone at first, and Jordan says it was hard but that “it made me feel more sociable around other people. Before I went I didn’t like talking to other people and I wasn’t socialising. There’s a difference since I got back.”

In the long term, can a two- week trip across the Channel really make a lasting impact? The results seem to suggest so.

Jordan says that, although he had a great time, he hadn’t thought much about what he might do after the course, but he would like to work in France again.

Josh says: “I feel more confident and like I want to do other stuff when I finish here – go to college and do more construction work. The whole course has shown me a new direction. I want to work abroad again when I’m older, maybe Spain.”