Being secure at work is really important. And we want to help as many people as possible find a job or career path that provides security.
Lots of people have been affected by job losses and insecurity at work this year so we’re working closely with employers and partners to try and combat this.
To help this we launched an employment project in Clewer and Dedworth, funded with a Community Training Grant of £20,000 from the Education and Skills Funding Agency and European Social Fund. The project is all about providing practical skills for people seeking new work and connecting with employers to hear about opportunities for people in the area.
As part of the project the Sector Based Work Academy got underway in October with our partners at Tesco in Dedworth. Members of the local community came along to take part in a series of workshops, receiving one-to-one support plus interview practice. Participants also got to spend time in Tesco, exploring the shop floor to get a flavour of what a job there might be like. Participant, Elizabeth, said:
“I have enjoyed taking part in the Sector Based Work Academy and learnt a lot from it. The taster day has made me really enthusiastic and Tesco seems like a great place to work.”
As part of the academy all participants received a Retail Skills Certificate and Level 2 in food hygiene, boosting their CVs and better equipping them for future employment. Three of the people who took part were offered interviews for the store and to help them feel prepped and ready our employment team did mock interviews with them.
All three were successful and have now completed their inductions. Our Employment and Training Manager, Chris, said:
“We’re so pleased to see Elizabeth, Alia and Deborah get into work at Tesco through our academy. But there is more to be done as the impact of covid-19 on employment continue to be felt. We have good connections with employers across the south of England and a dedicated task force to help communities recover from job losses.
“By working in partnership we can support people find new work or explore other options, such as self-employment. A big congratulations to our three residents who are now celebrating their new jobs.”
In 2021 we will be offering more training opportunities like this one, which we’ll be sharing more information about soon. Find out more about our employment support here.
