Work Ready West
SIF provided funding of over £2.1m for this project aimed at supplementing existing unemployment initiatives through the provision of wage-based employment and training opportunities for 160 unemployed individuals per year.
Project Name: | Work Ready West |
|---|---|
Zone: | Western |
Category: | Revenue |
Social Investment Fund Outcomes: | Pathways to Employment |
Status: | Delivery Complete |
Funding awarded: | £2,166,987 |
About the Project
The Work Ready West project provided wage-based employment and training opportunities for 160 unemployed individuals, aged 24 and over, from the SIF Western zone (incorporating Strabane, Omagh, Limavady, and Fermanagh).
The project was designed to supplement existing unemployment initiatives and to support those who had been out of work for 12 months or more through 50 weeks of paid employment across a range of local employers. Through paid placements individuals gained the opportunity to develop various employability skills which were designed to enhance their prospects within the labour market and improve the potential for them to secure permanent paid work.
The project had three main aims:
- to deliver a tailored, needs based training and employment programme for the most deprived areas
- to address the barriers to employment through a holistic need based intervention
- to help people break the generational cycle of benefits dependency
The project offered a range of job training opportunities, reflective of participants’ specific needs. They could acquire Level 2 qualifications (or equivalent) in line with the National Qualifications Framework, and the training programme also helped develop core skills to enhance their appeal to prospective employers.
Progress to date
This project has completed delivery. The project was very successful with 183 people taking advantage of the opportunities it offered. The project exceeded its targets and has achieved considerable success in terms of progression into employment. After leaving the project, 67% moved into full-time employment or self-employment and 67% remained in employment 6 months post project, one person moved into further education/training, two people started their own business or social economy project and 70% of participants gained at least one accredited qualification. The benefits of this programme will have a lasting, positive effect on the participants, their families and the wider community in the SIF Western zone, as the participants’ skills, confidence and future employment opportunities were enhanced. The project also brought together local employers, placement providers, long term unemployed individuals and other organisations in a shared collaboration. This provided an opportunity for establishing relationships, networking, learning new skills, gaining qualifications, increasing employment prospects and shared learning for the future.
The Social Investment Fund produced a number of short films on Social Investment Fund projects and outcomes. Below is the link to a short film that focuses on the lessons learned by the Work Ready West project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y40jZgaQp0
Impacts
Monitoring and evaluation of all Social Investment Fund projects is carried out using “Outcomes Based Accountability” (OBA). The below infographic details some of the key impacts of the Work ready West project.
