November 2009 update

Skills2Work SRIP Project & the Build2Impact Project-Quarterly Network Event on Wednesday  9th December 2009, Carlisle Business Centre, 60 Carlisle Road, Bradford, BD8 8BD, 11.00am - 3.00pm

This event is to recognise and celebrate the achievements made over the life span of the contract.

The aim of this event is to bring together all the deliver partners, all members of the BME Learning Network as well as all the stakeholders who contributed towards the success of the project. The day will be full of activities and speeches delivered by the keynote speakers.

Across West Yorkshire all 22 delivery partners have been working extremely hard to deliver the outputs which have been allocated to them. The work has made a remarkable difference to the lives of those beneficiaries who were helped and supported.  Many have found employment whilst others have entered into training or learning.

The project has continued to help and build the capacity of all our network members across West Yorkshire. Many organisations have benefited immensely from the support offered to them improving their quality assurance systems. Many members have and are been supported to achieve Matrix accreditation as a quality mark. The PTTLS and NVQ Level 3 (IAG) courses are progressing well and are well attended by the Network members.

November is the penultimate month before the Skills2Work contract comes to an end. BME Learning Network WY has applied for a number of different funding streams to continue the excellent work that has been done over the life span of this contract.

 

 

October 2009

 

Huge congratulations to Nari Ekta and Ravensthorpe Community Centre for achieving Matrix Standard Accreditation.

The matrix standard is the unique quality framework for the effective delivery of information, advice and guidance on learning and work. It is relevant in any setting where IAG is given to support individuals in their learning and work, regardless of the type, size or sector of the service or organisation.

The matrix standard is useful for organisations who are committed to developing their work force and also who deliver information, advice and guidance to clients as part of their core business.

Members who are studying PTLLS and NVQ Level 3 course are enjoying it and are working really well with each other. They are sharing a lot of new skills and learning from each other to increase their own knowledge and understanding of delivery mechanisms.

 

The Skills2Work contract will come to an end in December 2009. All the beneficiaries have had a very positive experience whilst engaged on the project.

Here is an experience of a learner in her own words;

I found out about the project through leaflets and the advertising bill board on the front of the building.

When I started on my courses I was unemployed and my child was still in nursery so I decided I wanted to do the courses ready to return back to work when my child started full time school.  I already had text and word processing level one and I wanted to do level two and three and refresh my Clait work and go on to Clait plus. I wasn’t looking for a job at the time as I had a child in nursery and saw this opportunity to gain more qualifications ready for the time I would be looking for work. I found the jobs I would have liked to do needed at least a level two text or word processing as it would be beneficial for the type of job I liked which was admin work.

I decided to join the project as I felt I was ready to return back to work but had some time to wait before my child started full time school.  I decided it wouldn’t hurt to get as many qualifications before I started work.

have benefited immensely as I have not been in employment for a while and the tutors and staff helped me gain confidence and offered advice such as volunteering, CV and interview techniques and which courses to take. Which led me to volunteer in an office just for a couple of hours a week to get used to the surroundings and that was a confidence boost and made me more determined to get as many qualifications as I could.

I think this project is different because it’s a small centre and there are only a certain number of people in one class.  The tutor can help everybody so you’re not left disappointed if the tutors not come back to you.  Also because it is a small centre you get to know everybody and it’s more welcoming.

There were no short comings the staff there are eager to help with anything.

The only thing that could be improved is the tea and coffee machine.

I would definitely recommend the project to anyone even if it’s just for advice or looking for work.  I recommended it to my daughter who had left school with no qualifications and she enjoyed her time here because it’s a relaxed atmosphere and it didn’t take her long to feel confident to get a job.

 

 

September 2009

 

The first batch of our Network member’s successfully completed their PTTLS course. In September we saw the second cohort of our members start the PTTLS course which is been delivered from West Bowling Community Advice & Training Centre, Bradford.

The second cohort of our Network members were recruited to study NVQ Level 3 in Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) which will start next month and will be delivered by C&K Training.

Next month we will see Nari Ekta (Leeds) and Ravensthorpe Community Centre (Dewsbury) assessed for their Matrix Standard by Registered Matrix Advisers.

 

 

Here is an experience of a learner who has benefited from the help and support offered by one of our Network member.

Michael currently unemployed is a keen musician and singer and had been out of formal education for some time.  Michael was looking to update his skills in order to record and produce his own music using the latest equipment and he discovered that Beaumont Street Studios offered accredited courses in Music Technology. Following an assessment by the course tutor Michael enrolled onto a level 2 music technology course which he successfully completed.

Following the course Michael felt he had the knowledge to go ahead and upgrade his own recording equipment in order to record his own music.  Michael found the course at Beaumont Street Studios really useful and gave him the confidence and knowledge to achieve his goals.

 

 

 

August 2009

Progress has been rather slow this month as many of our beneficiaries and delivery partners have been away over the summer, fasting for Ramadhan and looking after their children during the school closure.

The team at Lancaster  Consulting have completed their work to develop links with Mental Health and Primary Care Trusts. We are extremely grateful to Caroline Bamford, Head of Diversity at the Leeds Partnerships Foundation Trust, Kuldip Sohanpal, Head of Equality and Diversity at Airedale NHS Trust, Sabiya Khan, Work Force Development Facilitator NHS Bradford and Airdale Community Health Services, Phil Walters, Head of Involvement and Social Inclusion at the South West Yorkshire Mental health NHS Trust and Mohammed Hanif, Patients and Public Involvement Co-ordinator at Calderdale PCT for their time and commitment to working with the BME Learning Network to ensure that patients with mental health needs can access appropriate and sensitive employability support in the community.

A number of Network members who have been supported with the Matrix Standard are working very hard by putting all the evidence together that is required for their assessment which is due in October 2009. Network members have also been recruited for the next PTLL and NVQ Level 3 in Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) courses.

 

July 2009

Mid-Term Evaluation completed

Laiqa Sheikh, one of the founders of the BME Learning Network, kindly took on the task of undertaking an internal evaluation of the Skills2Work project, a pieceof work designed to complement the work commissioned by Yorkshire Forward with MTL to look at all the SRIP investment.  A copy of the report is available on request at the Lancaster Consulting office - just email samradad@lancasterconsultingweb.co.uk.  It will also be on the agenda for all the Summer Steering Groups.

The feedback from learners and delivery partners has been extremely interesting.  Some partners feel that the opportunity to start delivering learning in a supportive team, instead of hosting other providers, mostly college outreach activity, has been invaluable and has moved them on a new and rewarding trajectory which is enabling them to be much more responsive to their centre users and the wider community they serve.  Others have found it rather challenging, not least to complete all the piles of paperwork that any public funded contract demands.  It has been particularly hard to say "no" to learners where their needs have not met the eligibility criteria for the funding.  While some learners have been referred on to other providers, many don't have the confidence to work with other centres and will only engage if they can use their local community organisation.  

Clearly, the Network needs to win more contracts so that outputs that don't meet one set of criteria can be claimed from another funding source!!

Feedback from learners has been extremely positive.  Quotes include this feedback from a trainee studying music technology who was clearly motivated to study further:

"It was the first time I've arranged a track using just clips/loops as I'm used to iusing single hiots for each section (drums etc)  It was also the first time I have worked with vocals which was interesting, however I would like tio learn more about nusing vocals in tracks and learn how they need to be chopped and tuned so they can be used in tracks.  For the future, i would like to improve my weaknesses abnd learn about EQing, Mastering, arrangement ansd Bass synthesis ideally in Cubase or Reason."


Another learner wrote:

"I was unemployed when I started the course.  I have obtained an in house certificate of achievement, ACL - Introduction to Child Psychology at Thomas Danby and 1 credit at level 2 on a programme called Empowering Learners.  I have learnt a lot of new skills.  I know where my weaknesses are and strengths are, for example, when completing assignments, I realised that I had some problems with grammar which I am now working on."We aim to continue our work in motivating and supporting learners in West Yorkshire.

 

June 2009

 

1000th Learner Supported

The Skills2Work team have been working hard across West Yorkshire to provide practical support to the most disadvantaged people in our communities.  The Skills2Work programme, which is funded by Yorkshire Forward, focuses on the development of practical skills which will enable people to build the confidence they need to either find work or increase their employability.

 

We are beginning to hear some excellent stories about the beneficiaries of the project.  Our Project Team member, Lynne Harris went to interview our 900th learner, Leslie George, earlier this month at Beaumont Street Studios, Huddersfield and he explained that the facilities and support at BSS have opened up a new world for him.  He is now hoping to run his own business linking music, computer technology and other digital media.  He is busy completing his Level 3 Digital Media and Music Technology course.

 

The programme not only supports people to develop practical skills and gain qualifications.  We are also having success in finding people sustainable employment.  So far, 34 beneficiaries have found employment through the project at a time when unemployment is on the increase and the recession is affecting businesses across West Yorkshire.

One beneficiary at Nari Ekta explains:”During my time studying on the Skills2Work course, I attended job search skills and establishing career pathways.  I now possess the skills to progress in future goals.  I am very happy and confident now compared to how I was before. I have enjoyed studying alongside such caring and thoughtful individuals.  The group of very dignified, intelligent and helpful adults really brought the fun back into learning.  I am now working as a receptionist/admin. assistant at XXXX in Leeds.
I will surely recommend to every individual to come to the Nari Ekta who would like to open more doors to their future.”

The project has only another six months to go but there is no shortage of people seeking the project’s support.  We now hope to consolidate the work we have been doing with our beneficiaries to move as many of possible into employment or to gain recognised accredited qualifications.

Unfortunately, we are beginning to run out of outputs within the contract and this may limit the range of services we can offer.

 

April 2009

This month, the Skills2Work project supported our 850th beneficiary.

Skills2Work, the Equality & Diversity Trainneships project funded through Yorkshire Forward and managed by the LSC as part of their SRIP programme (Sub-Regional Investment Planning) , is now working with 22 partners across West Yorkshire to help the most deprived communities in the  sub-region to beat the credit crunch. 

So far, the project has helped over 100 people develop their basic skills in literacy, numeracy and English as another Language.  Many of these are working to gain a full qualification at a minimum of Entry Level 3.  14 people have achieved this to date.

A major focus of the project is to help people find work through the provision of a range of vocational training, job search support and work experience.  Nearly 200 people have received a range of training to make them more employable.  Courses include catering, business administration, childcare, construction health and safety, photography, hairdressing and I.T.

Over 200 people have received job seeker support and so far 32 people have found employment.

Each district aims to engage a particular target group of beneficiaries as a priority although the project aims to benefit all sectors of the community.  In Bradford and Leeds, the focus is on older people and the project team is working closely with the Bradford Older People’s Partnership to make sure this hard to reach group benefits from the project.

In Calderdale and Wakefield the target group is the black and minority ethnic community.  In Calderdale, this has been particularly successful and now the delivery partners are striving to target the wider community to ensure a good balance of beneficiaries.  In Wakefield, it has been harder to engage BME learners and work is underway to involve other delivery partners, in particular RASA, the Refugee and Asylum Seekers Association, to engage this group.

In Kirklees, the focus has been on engaging Black British beneficiaries.  This has been successful through the work of Beaumont Street Studios.  Another partner in Kirklees, HOOT, works with beneficiaries with mental health challenges and the project has benefited from their experience and supported 47 people with mental health needs across West Yorkshire to gain the confidence to find work.

 

The team looks forward to continuing this work over the coming months to make a real difference to the lives of local people.Steering Groups:

The project is supported by 5 district Steering Groups and a Sub-Regional Steering Group.  We are grateful to the many influential people who have agreed to act as critical friend by joining ther Steering Group.  Members include representatives from JobCentrePlus, the local Councils Regeneration teams, the Careers Service, Voluntary Action bodies, local learning partners, the PCTs as well as our many delivery partners.  Without their input, the project would be unable to fully understand how our work fits into the wider work being undertaken to support employment and skills initiatives across West Yorkshire.

 

 

February 2009

Another successful month for the Equality project, now Skills2Work .

This month, we supported our 500th learner and after only 11 months hit the target of beneficiaries supported for the whole 21 month project!

The help we offer depends very much on the needs of the individuals with whom we work.  Some are struggling to find work because they have difficulty with reading, writing and basic maths.  Others find that they need to improve their spoken English in order to compete in the labour market.  Project partners offer a range of basic skills courses to help people with these challenges.  Many job seekers, particularly those who want to move from manual work into an office based environment, find that they need to get to grips with IT.  The project is providing edcc and ECDL courses, now NVQ level 1 and 2.

 

We also offer a wide range of training to help people decide what kind of work to move into as well as courses which will help them get work.  So far, these have included childcare, catering, sewing, hairdressing/ hair and beauty, photography, radio and film work, administration and how to set up your own business.  Once people feel ready to apply for jobs, our project team are on hand to help with job search.  All our centres have I.T. facilities so job seekers can search the net for suitable vacancies.  We work closely with JobCentrePlus to make sure the people we work with have access to the largest number of job vacancies possible.  We provide help with CV writing, completing application forms, including on-line applications, interview preparation and confidence building so that our job seekers are on top form if called to an interview.  So far we have helped 15 people to find employment.

Helping the Over 50s

 

We are particularly interested in supporting people over 50 who may have lost their jobs but still want to continue their careers and earning in these difficult times.  We have produced a leaflet specifically targeting this age group and are working in partnership with the Older People’s Partnership ion Bradford and Careers Yorkshire and the Humber to make sure we can provide appropriate support to older job seekers.

Calling local employers - can you help us?

 

We are committed to working in partnership with local employers both to help them find the skilled workers they need to meet their business targets and also to help our job seekers to find appropriate employment.  One key aspect of  effective job search is to get work experience.  This helps job seekers really understand what will be expected of them in paid work and helps at interview as they can provide the interview panel with real examples of the work they have done and how they did it. 

 

We are very keen to hear from you if you can offer a job seeker work experience.  The benefit to you is an eager worker at no cost to you who can help with work load.  The benefit to us is to help someone get one step close to finding the job of their dreams!  If you think you can help, then contact Samra Dad on 01422 846934.

 

January 2009

Happy New Year!

 Welcome to our regular update on the Network’s Yorkshire Forward funded Skills2Work

Equality & Diversity Traineeship project. 

Regular readers will notice our new project name.  With the help of CSCommunicate, we have rebranded the project and developed some eye-catching leaflets to attract both new beneficiaries and employers to work with us. 

 

We hope this will become a name well known across West Yorkshire as the brand which represents high quality support and guidance for job seekers from all communities.

 

The Skills2Work delivery partners have been hard at work delivering learning and skills opportunities to unemployed people in the five districts of West Yorkshire.  This month, we engaged our 500th learner.  We are also pleased to report back that both our 300th learner has found a job.  Just the result we are hoping for.

 

The delivery team have been undertaking training over the past two months to make sure they have the skills to give appropriate support to job seekers with mental health challenges.  We were fortunate to be joined by Lesley Talbot-Strettle from NIACE, who travelled up from the Midlands on four separate occasions to spend the day with us, sharing her expertise.  The feedback has been excellent and all those who participated feel much better informed and equipped to deliver appropriate advice and support to any learner who needs it.

 

Steering Groups -

The project continues to be supported by a number of Steering Groups.  These meet on a quarterly basis and carry out a number of key functions.  Firstly they act as critical friend to the project and keep an objective eye on our performance.  They also bring their expertise to bear on our work and advise of relevant linkages, referrals and contacts that can maximise the impact we are having.  We have attached a photo of our Sub-Regional Group below. 

The Sub-Regional Steering Group oversees the project as a whole while there are five District Steering Groups, one in Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield who bring their local knowledge to support the project.

 

Members of the Steering group Include: 

Alison Durrant, LSC; Bernadette Clayton, West Yorkshire Employer Coalition; Anne Sykes, JobCentrePlus; Tricia Clarke, NIACE;  Sue Sykes, Yorkshire Forward; David Wears, West Yorkshire Learning Consortium, who also chairs the Group; Cathy Denney, Careers Yorkshire and the Humber, Marsha Witter, ITV Yorkshire; Emma Carter, Fair Play Partnership, Phil Walters, South Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust, John Harris, Worksforce and Skills Developement Co-ordinator, Yorkshire and Humber Regional Forum,  Christine Scaiffe, Traineeships Contract manager. Javed Khan, Chief Executive of the West Bowling Community Advice & Training Centre, Bradford, He also chairs the Bradford District Team and represents all 5 Chairs here. 

and Jude Lancaster, Project Manager from Lancaster Consulting (HR) Ltd.

 

Quality systems -From December 2008, we have introduced a new programme of quality support fro all our delivery partners.  Heather Levene and Fabbeh Husein are visiting each partner on a rolling programme to provide advice and support in learning delivery.  We will update on you on their progress.

October 2008 

Welcome to our regular update on the Network’s Yorkshire Forward funded

Equality & Diversity Traineeship project. 

 

 

Project Update  

Change of Arrangements - 

 

As many of our partners and support teams will know, due to policy changes the project will no longer be funded to work with employed individuals after 1st October 2008, as previously planned. 

Of course, those employed beneficiaries who have been enrolled/engaged before this date will continue to be supported through the project.  Also, there will be no change in arrangements for those employers who have already agreed to work closely with the project by signing a co-operation agreement or who were about to by the 1st October. 

In future, we will be supporting employers to take advantage of the more flexible support available through Train to Gain funding or through the Train to Gain Enhancement Fund which is just coming on stream.  There is an employer contribution required to access this funding but we will work with employers to ensure we can find a perfect match for their staff development requirements.

Over 12% of the beneficiaries so far engaged on the project have been employed either part or full-time.  This shows there is a high level of interest in the support we are offering for basic skills, vocational skills and career development through job search.  While those employed in supportive firms should be able to access this kind of support through Train to Gain, those who are under-employed are unlikely to get employer support as they are largely looking for alternative employment better matched to their skills and qualifications.  The LSC are currently investigating the possibility of creating a funding stream for individuals under the Train to Gain Enhancement Fund so watch this space for a news update on this.
 

Performance Review - 

September saw the engagement of our 200th beneficiary, Mr. M. Rizwan Mahmood.  He has been working with Qashif Parvez, Employment Skills Officer and Trescom Research & Consultancy Ltd in Bradford  who is helping him to secure work. 

Rizwan was working as a master baker and pastry chef in London before he moved to Bradford for family reasons.  He has been struggling to find work that matches his skills and qualifications but is optimistic that with the professional help he is getting from Trescom through the project, this will soon change. 

We have just engaged our 300th beneficiary and will be featuring her and her story next month.


Contract news:Following a recent review meeting with the LSC and Yorkshire Forward contract's team, we are able to confirm that the project will be continuing for its planned duration - to 2010. This news has been a real boost for the partnership, its stakeholders and beneficiaries as well as for the BME Learning Network. Coupled with a recently successful bid to Capacity Builders under the Improving Reach programme, the Network can look forward to a busy and exciting year ahead.

 

 

Project Background

 

This contract is the first to be won by the Network as a consortium delivery and we are determined to make a real success of it! We have 25 delivery partners who are actively engaged in delivering the contract, of whom 21 are network members.

 

The project aims to help the most disadvantaged in our communities, to get onto the skills escalator and get into work. It also seeks support people already in work who have realised a blockage in their career development to move onwards and upwards.

 

The delivery partners are developing a wide range of strategies to increase the skills and employability of beneficiaries. These include:

 

·   Information, Advice & Guidance

·   Basic skills support, literacy, numeracy, IT, ESOL

·   Taster courses

·   Vocational training for specific vacancies identified 

·   Confidence building

·   Career planning

·   Job search support

·   CV writing

·   Preparing application forms

·   Interview preparation

·   Coaching

·   Work experience

·   Introductions to employers seeking staff

·   Ongoing support after appointment

 

A key to success for the project will be the support of local employers.

We are inviting employers with over 100 staff to sign up to a Co-operation Agreement which not only will make a real difference to the lives of local people seeking jobs but we hope will also be helpful to the employers who sign up.

 

We can help with recruitment by publicising vacancies at no cost to the employer. We can also provide pre – selection training for job seekers in the skills sought by the employer. In return, employers are invited to offer work experience, shadowing and interviews to our job beneficiaries, and tell us about their vacancies and skills needed.

Contact us if you are an employer willing to support the scheme.

 

 The Delivery Partners for the project are:

 

Bradford

Meridian Centre Ltd

The Hopes Centre (HCC)

West Bowling Community Advice and Training Centre

Digitalife

Trescom Research and Consultancy Ltd

Urbanbiz

Girlington Advice & Training Centre

ABCD Ltd

 

Calderdale

Halifax Opportunities Trust, Halifax

Healthy Living Partnership, Halifax

The Acorn Centre, Todmorden

 

Kirklees

Pakistan and Kashmir Welfare Association, Batley

Ravensthorpe Community Centre Ltd, Dewsbury

Beaumont Street Studios, Huddersfield

Neighbourhood Learning Centre, Huddersfield

Hoot Music, Huddersfield

 

Leeds

Reemap

Solange Robinson Consultancy

Urbanbiz

Nari Ekta

Hooner Kelah

Hamara

Asha Centre

 

Wakefield

Caleb

Next Generation

Total Sports Coaching Ltd

Solange Robinson Consultancy

 

If you would like to know more about the project, if you are an interested employer or if you know anyone living in West Yorkshire who might benefit from support to find work please contact:

Jude Lancaster - judelancaster@lancasterconsultingweb.co.uk or

Samra Dad - samradad@lancasterconsultingweb.co.uk

or phone us on 01422 846934

or write to us at:

Lancaster Consulting (HR) Ltd, Beehive Mills, Hebble End, Hebden Bridge, HX7 6HJ