Employability Self-Support

1.    Information Resources

From the outset and throughout information will be gathered relevant to employability information, services and support (there will be some slight differences between delivery localities). The information will be current, clear and arranged in a user friendly format. Key information sources will include Lambeth Adult Guidance and SCRC. An objective will be a basic “starter pack” to give project clients. Clients will be asked to contribute to expanding the pack from their own experience.

2.    Open Employment and Training Events

There will be one major event just before Christmas and a minimum of two in the first/second weeks of the New Year. The first will be an extension of SCRC’s end of year Adult Learning Forum. A key part of the event will be a discussion of learners’ personal progression. (Three quarters of course graduates state they will be seeking further training and a third directly into employment.) A representative of Lambeth Adult Guidance will be present at the event, along with SCRC staff experienced in IAG through its LINX and LINX Plus projects and Personal Best, to outline the purpose of the project. Graduates of Personal Best and GLOBE Community Champions will also be invited. The

The New Year events will be build around adult learning enrolments at Loughborough and Springfield and highlight employment opportunities at the outset, with learners encouraged to think through their use of their course for their further development. Again project partners will be present to explain what the project is about and how those present could benefit from it. The duration of the courses will be the same as the duration of the projects, encouraging an intensive short term commitment. The manager of the Green Man (Lambeth’s employability hub) will be present at the Loughborough Centre event, the Green Man being a few minutes walk from the Loughborough Centre.

The planned outcomes of the events will be:

-    participants focused on their further training and employment development

-    participants informed about information, advice and guidance services, including the first “edition” of the information pack

-    participants informed about how to access 1 to 1 assistance (it will be possible to make appointments)

-    participants informed about the two training events, including enrolment arrangements

-    participants of the new year events asked to the would be prepared to fill in a more detailed than usual course feed-back form even if they do not attend one of the courses to aid future IAG provision.

3.    One-Off Workshop Events

In preparing the training events the trainer will share the planning with the core project staff to enable them to learn from the experience experience, preparing them to aid individual and self-support groups.

Aim of the workshops

-    to motivate and empower participants to recognise and overcome their obstacles to achievement, and to reach and retain their full potential

Objectives

-    to identify the non-employability issues which impinge on their daily lives and which may also affect their ability to find employment

-    to agree an individual action plan

-    to assess the support needed, and the support services appropriate to realising their plan, including informal support

-    to identify the first steps to be taken and what is most likely to encourage sustainability.

The half day courses will be interactive, working around common issues and how they can best be addressed to achieve a positive outcome. There will be a strong focus on continuation, both individually and as a member of a group. It will be possible for participants to fix an appointment for 1 to 1 support and asked if they would like to be involved in a self-help support, with the event encouraging continuing engagement. Participants will also be provided with a copy of the information pack and asked to add to it from their own experience. They will be asked to fill in an evaluation form.

4.    Self-Help Group

The project will establish three support groups, one at each of the three locations. They will meet fortnightly and be facilitated by someone who is currently unemployed or who has had recent experience of it. It is anticipated that members will have been participants at one of the two training events but this will not be a condition. However, the structure of the group and the meetings will be built around the content of the events and how to build on it.

At the end of each meeting participants will decide the theme for the next, including a possible invitation to a guest resource person. Regular features of the meetings will include personal experiences since members last met and information updating.

5.    Evaluation

There will be three aspects of the project:

-    the learners enrolled on the spring courses

-    feed back from the two training events

-    as part of the self-help groups – members will be asked during their involvement in it its value to them and what further support they consider would be helpful to them within the context of the resources likely to be available.