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Project Name: |
Work It |
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Zone: |
Southern |
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Category: |
Revenue |
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Social Investment Fund Outcome: |
Pathways to Employment |
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Status: |
Completed |
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Funding awarded: |
£2,368,373 |
About the Project
This project delivered a comprehensive programme of interventions which aimed to increase access to employment, improve educational attainment and widen training opportunities in the SIF Southern zone. Focus was on participants that had limited or no skills with a view to providing on the job training and the opportunity to gain accredited qualifications.
Participants availed of:
• enhanced one-to-one adviser support, including benefits advice, personal development plan, personalised approach to job matching, job search and referrals to additional training;
• guaranteed employment for 48 weeks helping to address issues of employment readiness;
• emphasis upon demand led provision, appropriate to intermediate skills shortages in the local labour market in order to increase the likelihood of future employment;
• accredited and non-accredited training opportunities to ensure participants gain meaningful qualifications to ensure they are suitably upskilled to meet the demands of the labour market. These included forklift training, SAGE accounts, NVQ’s in Youth Leadership, Advice and Guidance, Retail, World Host Training, Diploma in barbering and essential skills in numeracy and literacy; and
• a partnership approach with communities and local employers in order to agree opportunities and actions.
Participants were placed with a wide variety of employers within the private, voluntary and public sector. Community projects included: community sensory gardens, intergenerational fun day, over 60’s tea party, meditation classes, baby yoga, health and wellbeing sessions with young people, reimaging of children’s play area, conservation awareness, emergency life support skills training and an up cycling community class.
Progress to date
This project has completed delivery. The project has made a positive contribution to improving social conditions in the targeted areas in the SIF Southern zone by building pathways to employment through creation of new employment opportunities and moving participants closer to the job market. 196 participants and 500 community projects/activities were supported. 64% of participants moved into employment at the end of the project and 60% remained in employment 6 months post project. Provision of accredited training, practical job related skills, work experience and development of softer skills have prepared participants for the work place and will help increase their opportunities when competing for jobs in the future. Participants and their families have benefited from the personal and professional development provided by this initiative and through increased household incomes due to the provision of paid work placements and experience of employment. Partnership working, improved relationships and increased capacity building will help support sustained collaboration and co-operation in the future. The community projects funded have also contributed to positive changes in the appearance of the local areas and have led to an increase in community services delivered. The nature of these projects have left a lasting legacy of the Work IT project and SIF.
A number of short films on Social Investment Fund projects and outcomes have been produced. Below is the link to a short film that captures the impact the Work IT project has had on participants:
Impacts
Monitoring and evaluation of all Social Investment Fund projects is carried out using “Outcomes Based Accountability” (OBA). The infographic below details some of the key impacts of the Work IT project.
