European Social Fund 2014 to 2020 programme: case study booklet 2021

Question 1

Introduction

Accepted Answer

The European Social Fund (ESF) programme in England contributes to local growth by increasing labour market participation, promoting social inclusion and developing the skills of the potential and existing workforce. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is the Managing Authority for the programme.

Since March 2015 the current ESF programme has been supporting projects across the country. At 1 December 2021, £2.9 billion of EU funding had been allocated, this represents over 96% of our total allocation.

To 1 October 2021 the 14-20 programme has helped around 1.6 million people. Of these over 197,000 who upon starting ESF declared they were either inactive or job searching, had gained employment at the time they left ESF support; and over 148,000 people were in education or training upon leaving. ESF projects can run up to late 2023.

As part of the Government’s overall growth activity, ESF is delivered with a range of partners, including other Government Departments and bodies across public, private and third sectors. EU funds require national co-financing (known as ‘match’ funding’) from either public or private sources. ESF in England works with four national Co-Financing Organisations (CFOs) which help commit, spend and manage some of the funds available and these are:

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)
the National Lottery Community Fund, through their Building Better Opportunities programme

As well as the CFO funding arrangements above, there are some local CFOs and organisations that have bid directly for funding, sourcing their own match funding for a project.

Take a look below at some local ESF projects across England that are helping people improve their employability, gain new skills, move towards and into work, or provide other positive outcomes, such as returning to training or education.

Project delivery changed significantly in response to COVID-19 restrictions and this is reflected within some of the project case studies. Since social distancing measures have been removed, projects are transitioning into new business as usual arrangements, in many cases integrating measures introduced during COVID-19 that have added value.

You can also find out more by accessing the full list of projects funded through the England ESF programme and information on ESF Co-financing Organisations.

Question 2

East and South East Region

Accepted Answer

Project 507 – Buckinghamshire

Project 507 provides intensive one-to-one support to young offenders who are deemed as high risk, gang members or gang associates as well as those who are convicted for violent offences.

The project is co-funded by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) CFO3 programme and delivered within Her Majesty’s Young Offenders Institution Aylesbury and Her Majesty’s Prison Rochester.

Project 507 delivers the Young Kings Programme, which provides one-to-one support to young men in prison aged 18 – 25 years old, who have been affected by violence. Through individual support, it provides psychoeducational and emotional tools they need to address how their experience of trauma continues to impact their lives in a negative and or disruptive way.

After an initial conversation and individual assessment, a member of the Project 507 team will work with them to select areas of focus within the programme, to establish structure and manage expectations. Core activity areas include self-reflection, communication skills, coping mechanisms and setting goals.

To October 2021 the project has enrolled 234 participants.

Step-Up programme – Greater Brighton, West Sussex and East Surrey

Delivered within the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership area, the Step-Up internship and training programme has enabled small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to sustain and grow their business through fully funded graduate internships.

Step-Up, (SMEs Transformation Engagement Programme – Universities Partnership) was designed to bridge the gap between the supply of graduates with high-level skills, and the demand for workforce-ready employees with the vocational and employability skills required by SMEs.

The University of Brighton and University of Sussex provided support to SMEs through a series of specialist masterclasses, hosted by subject and industry experts, focused around recruiting, retaining, and upskilling staff. The programme also trained and mentored graduates through a parallel skills workshop programme to equip them with key skill sets desired by local employers such as, professionalism, resilience and thinking creatively.

Following the masterclass series, SMEs were able to create an internship proposition and take on a fully funded graduate intern for six weeks.

To November 2021, Step-Up has supported 140 SMEs to complete the skills masterclass programme, and 230 graduates have completed the parallel employability workshop training programme. From this, 111 of these graduates have secured funded internships with Step-Up SMEs.

The Alliance Programme – North Hampshire and South West Surrey

The Alliance Programme provides support that helps people who face multiple barriers and are furthest away from the workplace, move closer towards or into work or training.

The project operates in the North of Hampshire and the South West of Surrey. It is co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and delivered by the lead partner Romsey Community School Ltd in partnership with Surrey Care Trust.

The Alliance Programme provides one-to-one support in six main areas. These are health and well-being, employability, digital inclusion, financial capability, work ethic and attitude, and in work support. The project uses a person-centred approach, helping participants to manage and make progress in areas they need support with.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to the programme, its delivery was able to adapt. ‘Greenscapes’ was created, where instead of providing one-to-one support indoors, this was done in safe, outdoor open spaces. This ensured continuity of support for current participants and that new participants were able to be enrolled and helped.

Each participants’ needs are addressed holistically through creating ‘wrap around’ support, which involves close work with other programmes and agencies that provide bespoke, specialist interventions. This also extends to when a person goes into work, enabling them to feel supported and helping them to adapt to their new duties and lifestyle changes.

The programme commenced delivery in late 2017 and as of November 2021 has successfully supported 359 participants. 141 of these have progressed into employment, self-employment, training and education outcomes, or those furthest away from the workplace into relevant skills opportunities such as volunteering.

Work Routes – Greater Cambridgeshire and Greater Peterborough

Work Routes provides people who are unemployed and disadvantaged in the labour market with the skills and support to move into sustainable work and to remain in employment.

The project, which is delivered by Reed in Partnership and co-funded by the Department for Work and Pensions offers individuals targeted help and support to address any barriers to work they may face. Participants include those who are currently unemployed or inactive and seeking employment, lone parents, older workers (50+), ex-offenders, carers, people with disabilities or health conditions, people belonging to ethnic minorities, and people with drug or alcohol dependency, low or no qualifications or a language barrier.

A range of specialist advice is available to jobseekers using the service, including skills training, health and wellbeing advice and help finding and applying for a suitable vacancy.

Work Routes also provides basic qualifications such as Customer Service, Food Hygiene, and Health and Safety. The project works in conjunction with employers, to devise pathways to employment, which involve selection, upskilling and basic qualifications as well as support in employment. The two most successful of these pathways have been within the retail and care sectors.

To November 2021, Work Routes has worked with 5732 participants. 2792 people have started work and so far, 1454 have been employed for six months or more.

Pathways to Success – Hertfordshire

Pathways to Success is a tailored programme to provide opportunities for young people who are not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) or pre-NEET to move towards and into work. The project is delivered across the whole of the county by Hertfordshire County Council Services for Young People.

Pathways to Success has a specific focus on individuals from vulnerable groups who may require some additional support, such as carers, care leavers, lone parents, travelling communities and those at risk of gang involvement.

The programme is tailored for each individual or group and focuses on delivering motivational and employability activities over a flexible timescale, enabling them to explore career pathway choices and gain knowledge and skills needed to further achieve. Each participant has the opportunity to further develop these skills in a real work environment and to develop links with employers. Following completion of the programme, each young person will receive follow-up tracking and mentoring for up to six months.

In response to COVID-19 lockdown measures, activities were successfully adapted to be delivered virtually. The programme is now running a blend of face to face and virtual sessions.

To 31st October 2021 the project has supported 395 young people into either education, employment or training outcomes.

Skills Support for the Workforce – New Anglia

The Skills Support for the Workforce programme supports businesses and employees, including those affected by redundancies, through the delivery of fully funded skills training.

The project is co-funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency and delivered by Steadfast Training, alongside 7 other providers to ensure all of New Anglia’s priority sectors can be supported.

Each business supported receives a company needs analysis and a robust initial assessment of their skills needs, which leads to the identification and the subsequent delivery of appropriate vocational training. This can be either accredited or non-accredited, as well as either full Level 2 qualifications or just units of qualifications. The aim of the project is to support individuals into higher levels of training, workplace progression or an apprenticeship; and to improve business competitiveness.

The project offers a variety of courses including Business Administration Level 2 and Diploma Level 3 units, bespoke Word, Excel and PowerPoint courses (Introductory, Intermediate and Advanced), Early Years Childcare, a range of level 2 Construction qualifications, Customer Service, Team Leading and Management training,

To June 2021 the project has supported 1469 individuals of which 312 have progressed within work, into education or an apprenticeship.

Read more about Skills Support for the Workforce

Removing Barriers, Rebuilding Lives – Oxfordshire

The Removing Barriers, Rebuilding Lives project helps long-term unemployed and economically inactive people across Oxfordshire gain the skills and confidence they need to get into work, education, or training.

The project is led by Activate Learning and co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. Its main focus is in supporting people aged 18 and above, particularly those aged 50 or over, people belonging to ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and people living in rural communities.

With support from local delivery partners, participants are offered one-to-one mentoring by an experienced coach who will identify their work-related barriers and needs, find out about their job aspirations, and create a development plan to support them on their journey.

With access to employability courses, job hunting skills, support in CV and application writing, interview practice, plus volunteering and training opportunities, each person is given every chance to improve their work readiness and progress in, or towards, their employment goal.

Often there are significant financial or practical barriers to attending sessions, courses or job interviews and the project can help alleviate these by reimbursing travel costs and paying for interview clothes and childcare.

To November 2021, the project has supported over 1000 participants and helped more than 365 people into employment, education or training.

Read more about Removing Barriers, Rebuilding Lives

Inter Activ employment programme – Solent

Inter Activ is an employability programme designed to train and upskill adults with disabilities who are currently inactive or unemployed, to enable them to progress into either education or the workplace.

The project is run by Enable Ability as a social enterprise, that offers free work experience based personal employability programmes. Participants are engaged in the programme via a number of work experience opportunities such as marketing and web design, Landport Community Centre Café, arts, crafts, gardening, a computer repair shop and ‘What’s It Like?’ – which uses videography to produce virtual tours of venues and facilities for individuals with disabilities and anxiety.

Into Work skills coaches work closely with both participants and employers to enable the individuals to realise their potential. In support of this, participants are encouraged to undertake courses and gain relevant qualifications, such as functional skills in maths and English, Food Hygiene and First Aid. Additional one-to-one support is provided for CV writing, interview techniques and completion of application forms. Once placed, the participants are supported in the workplace for up to 12 weeks to ensure a smooth transition and sustainable employment.

The project began in April 2021 and by the end of October 2021 it had successfully placed 8 participants into work.

HeadsUp – South East

HeadsUp provides emotional support and practical job seeking advice to people in Essex, Southend and Thurrock who are unemployed and have experienced some form of common mental health problem, such as such as anxiety, depression, or low confidence.

The project is managed by EnableEast, delivered through a project partnership of NHS and voluntary sector organisations and co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. It aims to reframe negative perspectives, build self-esteem and provide coping mechanisms so that individuals from 15 years old not in education, employment or training (NEET) and over can overcome their personal barriers to finding work.

HeadsUp provides person centred, goal orientated support to build resilience and improve wellbeing. Peer support workers apply their own lived experiences of mental health and unemployment to offer guidance and role modelling to the people they support. Understanding the anxieties and uncertainty of returning to work whilst maintaining good mental health is at the core of the project, which also includes workshops that focus on wellbeing, resilience and confidence building; and extensive practical measures to help people find and secure work.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the project adapted its delivery to help address the increased needs of over 150 participants, who were particularly vulnerable, given the associated heightened anxiety and isolation. Measures used included social media, post and emails.

The project has supported 792 participants to 30th September 2021 and has exited 153 people into employment, 71 people into education or training and 94 people who were economically inactive into job searching, training or employment.

Building Better Opportunities – East Berkshire

Operating across East Berkshire, Better Opportunities works with participants with multiple disadvantages, who are not employed and are aged 25 and over, to help them move towards employment, training or job searching.

The project is run by Slough Borough Council, co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and involves a partnership of voluntary sector organisations with specialist expertise and experience of working in disadvantaged communities.

The aim is to engage people who are most disadvantaged, including people who have not benefitted from existing local services and are unable to access alternative means of support. The intention is to make a positive difference to their lives, such as improving soft skills, strengthening relationships, personal resilience and how they engage in their community. The project is underpinned by the principles that employment is a realistic goal for those it is assisting and that their employment makes business sense for employers.

Within the participant group, the project ensures a focus on people belonging to ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and those aged over 50. Up to October 2021 the project has supported 400 participants, 115 of these have moved into employment and 35 have moved into education and training.

The project also aims to ensure all participants have a better understanding of their strengths and capabilities, improved self-confidence and physical and mental wellbeing, and a realistic expectation of moving into work or education.

Read more about Building Better Opportunities

Question 3

London

Accepted Answer

Accelerating Growth of the Digital and Creative Economy through Innovation, Workforce and Leadership Development (AGILE) – London

The Accelerating Growth of the Digital and Creative Economy through Innovation, Workforce and Leadership Development (DAGILE) project offers free online digital skills and leadership training for people working or living in London - in particular, those from under-represented groups, with the aim of enhancing their career prospects.

Delivered by London South Bank University, the project is actively enhancing digital skills in the capital. The digital learning platform is available 24/7, allowing learners to study in a flexible way that works for them. It offers a range of OCN London accredited short courses, delivered by experienced lecturers from two of London’s leading universities. Courses cover Digital Marketing, Leadership and Management, Digital and IT Skills and Creative Digital across Levels 1 to 3. Additionally, the project offers free Basic Skills in English, English as a second language (ESOL) and Maths.

The DAGILE team was recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has presented both challenges and opportunities. Post COVID-19, there is a growing need for digital transformation in all sectors. DAGILE better aligns with businesses seeking digital innovation and online education has become a fundamental tool in a time of remote working and social distancing.

To November 2021, the project has been working with employees from the hospitality and construction sectors, social housing, the NHS, Local Authorities, small businesses and the self-employed. A high proportion of learners are female and from ethnic minority backgrounds. By the end of October 2021, 124 participants had enrolled on the project, of which 99 were female and 71 were from an ethnic minority background.

Love London working

Love London Working is a partnership of 9 housing associations based in London, seeking to recruit unemployed and economically inactive Londoners, aged over 16 into employment.

Working with mental health trusts, schools and community centres, participants are engaged directly under the Love London Working programme through the network of relationships the partners have with local organisations in deprived areas.

The programme offers a range of support including vocational training, money guidance and digital skills as well as support with CV writing, job applications and interview practice. To reduce barriers to employment and enable full access to participation in the project, participants receive counselling and support related to mental health and family issues, health and lifestyle advice and well-being.

As at November 2021 (and since 2016), Love London Working has successfully supported 21,989 participants and helped 6,804 into employment.

Central London Works

Central London Works (CLW) is an employment support programme designed to support participants with health conditions and disabilities, long-term unemployed and disadvantaged groups within the twelve Central London Forward boroughs, to overcome their employment barriers and move into stable, well-paid work.

The project is led by Ingeus UK Limited, who provide support alongside a number of delivery partners. These include health professionals, employment specialists and local community organisations, which in addition to offering extensive one-to-one and group guidance and support, can directly help on practical matters such as housing needs and securing reasonable adjustments in the workplace.

On joining, each participant works with a dedicated caseworker who facilitates a range of support measures tailored to the individual’s needs, with the aim of helping them find the right job at the right time.

Utilising the CLW Community Investment fund, the CLW team can provide practical support to ensure that participants are able to overcome a wide range of barriers. An example of this has been the CLW Housing First initiative which provided the initial rental deposit and a limited duration of up-front rent to provide 60 at-need participants with safe and secure accommodation.

Once a participant’s immediate primary barrier, such as accommodation, is overcome the CLW team can support participants with their health, confidence, financial and job search barriers to get them back on track as quickly as possible. Using a range of targeted routeways into employment such as tailored sector-based work academy Programmes, ring-fenced employment opportunities and council partnerships, the CLW team can support participants into high quality, sustainable, London Living Wage roles.

Up to the end of October 2021 Central London Works has supported over 17,000 individuals, achieving over 4,300 first time job starts and more than 6,000 job starts in total.

Black Country Click Start

Click Start is a digital and financial inclusion project supporting vulnerable people to access online support. The project specifically targets social housing tenants in relation to the rollout of Universal Credit (UC) and other aspects of welfare reform, and offers clear progression routes onto skills and employment provision.

The project is programme managed by Walsall Housing Group and co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. Six delivery partners work across the Black Country to engage and work with local communities. Initially the aim is to break down the fear of digital technology, through activities such as birthday card creation. Participants are then offered more practical advice and support, such as setting up UC accounts, how to pay bills and accessing health and other online support services.

Other activities available include confidence building, household budgeting workshops, internet safety, CV writing and applying for jobs online. These are undertaken in one-to-one or via group sessions, including in community outreach locations.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project transitioned to a digital delivery model, which initially addressed basic needs linked to food, accessing prescriptions and family connectivity. This then extended to helping people access their UC accounts and job searching. Following the positive results from these online interventions, the project continues to have a blended delivery, both digital and face to face. This particularly helps participants who have mobility issues and lack confidence to attend classes or community venues.

The project’s outcomes and results are based on education, training and job search once participants have completed the programme. Online courses and physical college courses are popular, as participants have developed new skills and desire further development and learning.

Up to October 2021 Click Start has worked with 2900 digitally and financially vulnerable people. Just over 85% have moved into education, training and job search.

Read more about Black Country Click Start

Your Vision Your Future – Coventry

The European Social Fund and Youth Employment Initiative funded programme ‘Your Vision Your Future’ enables Coventry’s young residents aged 16 – 29 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) to access support to move towards and into work.

The project is one of many delivered by Coventry City Council’s Employment and Skills Service, which works with partners across the city to provide a wide portfolio of personalised support to residents of all ages who are looking for work, training, apprenticeships and work placements.

The Your Vision, Your Future project offers specialist support for young residents who face multiple and sometimes complex barriers that make it hard for them to access employment opportunities. Delivered by a consortium of 8 partner organisations, the project offers support to improve confidence, motivation and employability for teenagers and young adults who struggle to integrate into the educational system.

A main focus of the project is to deliver a range of creative and entrepreneurial activities that young people in the City can engage with; and associated support to help young people realise their goals through one-to-one mentoring. To help with this, partners offer a variety of one-to-one job focused support, such as careers advice, access to vacancies and job search, plus training or short workshops. Amongst the more specialist services available are guidance and support in relation to working in the creative arts sector, the gig economy or setting up a business.

During COVID-19 lockdown restrictions the digital offer to potential participants was enhanced with partner organisations developing websites and utilising social media platforms and online registration portals for ease of access. Additional resource was put into increasing more tailored support for wellbeing and mental health and directing young people to these services.

Your Vision, Your Future started in September 2021, so there is no outcomes data available at the time of publishing. The project is aiming to provide support for 1200 young people.

Read more about Your Vision, Your Future

Taste Local – Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire

The Taste Local programme is providing skills to help support unemployed people into Food and Drink sector jobs in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

Delivered by DBC Training Ltd, all activities are designed to increase the vocational, employability and functional skills of unemployed people and enhance their prospects of finding sustainable employment.

The programme provides recognised accredited qualifications from Entry Level to Level 2. Courses include, Basic Food Hygiene, Food Safety, Standards and Certification, Health and Safety in the Workplace, plus bespoke modules such as butchery and bakery.

Additional support is provided for job search, application completion and interview skills with the aim of supporting people towards and into employment. To assist this, many of the courses provided have guaranteed interview schemes with local employers on completion. The courses and employers change from month to month based on the vacancies available.

The project aims to support 1540 people from commencement until December 2022. This will include, as mentioned above, employability skills, functional skills, vocational skills within the food and drink industry and support into long term sustainable employment.

So far the project has successfully supported a number of people into employment with very reputable employers locally within Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in a variety of positions. It also has a large proportion of individuals enrolled to improve their English and/or Maths who will then be moving into job search support groups to assist them in finding their perfect employment match.

Higher Level Skills Match – Greater Birmingham and Solihull

Higher Level Skills Match (HLSM) aims to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to realise their business goals, by identifying and matching the skills needs of local employers with the skills of students and graduates across the Greater Birmingham and Solihull area.

The project is delivered by Birmingham City University, Aston University and Newman University, in partnership with local authorities in Lichfield and Tamworth. Launched in summer 2020, it continues the work and learning started by an earlier HLSM project that was delivered successfully with the same partnership from 2017 to 2019, which supported over 300 businesses, completed 189 skills projects and engaged over 1200 students and graduates on initiatives including paid jobs, work experience and mentoring.

Each business participating is assigned an HLSM Account Manager from one of the three partner Universities to identify their business goals and skills requirements, which leads to the formation of a skills development plan. The HLSM manager will then identify and match the talent requirements of the business to the training opportunities and highly skilled graduates of Birmingham City University and partner universities.

The benefits of this matching service include that businesses will gain additional skills and knowledge through new recruits and retrained employees; and graduate level opportunities are provided for high-calibre graduates ranging from full-time graduate jobs to internships and micro placements. HLSM also provides businesses with fully funded workshops covering topics such as social media, marketing, business communications and negotiating and selling.

Up to September 2021, the extension project has supported 136 SME businesses, with the aim to support a total of 300 businesses by the end of the project.

Read more about Higher Level Skills Match

Greater Lincolnshire MOVE

The MOVE project aims to help people furthest away from employment to identify, address and overcome barriers to employment and find paid work.

MOVE operates across Lincolnshire, North and North East Lincolnshire. It is led by Voluntary Centre Services and delivered collaboratively through a network of 21 local third sector organisations and colleges, which compliment and build on existing employability services. The project is co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and is focused on helping people who are unemployed and economically inactive.

MOVE offers each participant ongoing confidential one-to-one support from an advisor. They start by identifying personal goals and the activities and support that will help them achieve these. The extensive support available includes skills development, training and qualifications, plus volunteering and work experience opportunities.

Employability and job search support includes help with confidence building, CV writing, completing applications and practice interviews, participation in Job clubs and access to an online employment skills, training and job search programme. In addition, financial support is available for travel, childcare and respite care cost. To help people move forward, ongoing support is provided when they start work, training or volunteering.

As at November 2021 MOVE has supported 1,022 people with 239 progressing into employment and 113 progressing into learning or training.

Read more about Greater Lincolnshire MOVE

Leicester Graduate City Project

The Leicester Graduate City Project enables small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Leicestershire to employ a student intern from one of Leicester’s universities on a six-week placement; and raises awareness amongst graduates of the breadth of job opportunities available locally.

The project is delivered through a partnership of the University of Leicester, De Montfort University and Leicestershire City Council. The six-week internships can be undertaken by second-year students from both universities as a developmental opportunity to gain direct workplace experience, utilise their skills and enhance their CVs. In addition, they gain a broader understanding and awareness of the quality and diverse range of local employment opportunities and the benefits of working locally upon graduation.

The internships enable local businesses to benefit from the skills, knowledge and talent of graduates that can help them grow and thrive, and so also improves their understanding of what graduates can bring to the wider local economy.

The project offered the first round of internships in summer 2021. Up to October 2021 the project has supported 37 local SME businesses and 37 students with direct workplace experience. A further round of internships will take place in summer 2022.

Read more about Leicester Graduate City Project

Herefordshire Skills for the Future – The Marches

Herefordshire Skills for the Future aims to help bridge the gap between small businesses and the education sector; and develop enterprise skills amongst young people.

Run by the new Herefordshire based New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) and through links with education and business communities, the project focuses on:

helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and microbusinesses to understand gaps and opportunities in their labour market skills; and offering flexible skills support to enable them to reach their growth potential. Activities include providing business skills gap coaching; and facilitating an employer engagement forum
engaging SMEs and microbusinesses with educators (schools, colleges, Further Education and Higher Education Institutions) to embed skills awareness in course content; and through extracurricular workshops to help individuals to gain skills relevant to the needs of the local labour market. Activities include developing a Future Skills Group; and a placement programme providing supported work experience, with an emphasis on future skills
developing enterprise skills amongst young people to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs who can start and grow businesses to meet local business needs. Activities include developing and promoting an Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Skills Youth Network and facilitating careers and enterprise advice for school pupils

In the 4 months up to November 2021, activities on the Herefordshire Skills for the Future project have helped 145 participants from local small businesses and education providers to gain future employability skills.

Read more about Herefordshire Skills for the Future

Connecting Choices – Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire

The Connecting Choices project works with the most disadvantaged groups furthest from the labour market across areas of Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands to improve social inclusion. The project’s aim is to help these individuals move towards and into positive outcomes, such as training, education, volunteering, active job search, employment or self-employment.

Connecting Choices is led by IXION, which is part of Shaw Trust and is co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. The project provides person centred needs based support which includes personal coaching sessions. To help people overcome any social barriers they may face there is a focus on community activities, joining clubs and group activities with other participants, plus online inclusion through digital skills activities – including a virtual social hub.

Alongside this, the project provides support to help people address and overcome issues linked to low self-esteem, low-confidence, mental health, anxiety or depression. There is also practical guidance and support, for example in relation to communication skills, substance misuse, financial concerns or housing needs. The project helps individuals become more job ready by providing help with employability and job search skills. These include volunteer placements, CV writing, interview skills and the development of digital skills.

Where possible, the project also supports individuals to address personal barriers to progression by helping improve access to existing complementary services they may not otherwise know about or engage with. These may include statutory services, services from other agencies, and those provided by local charities and other groups.

From September 2017 to November 2021 the project has supported 2,109 participants with 268 moving into education or training, 232 unemployed participants back into employment and 260 economically inactive into employment, including self-employment or into job search when leaving.

7 - Step Civilian Skills Program – Worcestershire and Herefordshire

The 7-Step Civilian Skills Program is a free 40-hour course for veterans of the British Armed Forces and family members who find themselves unemployed. It has a focus on mental health awareness, integration and support to access education and employment opportunities.

The project operates in Worcestershire and Herefordshire and is run by STEPWAY, which works to support all British Armed Forces veterans in civilian life, regardless of their background or circumstance. The project was approved as an ESF community grant through Worcestershire County Council and is co-funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Prior to joining the program each person’s needs and potential barriers they may face are identified through an assessment of dynamic and static needs. This could identify specific needs such as Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), adjustment disorder and, or survivor’s guilt which in turn increases the learner’s risk to substance misuse. It is important that any such conditions are recognised before a person commences the course.

Within the course there is a focus on issues relating to adapting to civilian life, mental health and the core foundational skills often missing in a veteran skill set. Steps 1-5 of the program inform and empower veterans by providing them with greater awareness, understanding, confidence and control on how to adapt better in civilian life. Therefore, when taking part in step 6 which covers issues linked to entering education or employment, they are ready to engage and more importantly, sustain their home-life and job for the long-term.

The program lays out the foundations for veterans to be part of their wider community, including moving towards and into work. The integration and acceptance of veterans in local communities has benefits for the individuals supported, but also supports local growth within businesses, employment, and educational establishments, which benefits the whole community. Feedback reveals that 96% of veterans participating in the program have returned to work, education or found a volunteering role.

Read more about the 7-Step Civilian Skills program

Question 5

North East, Yorkshire and the Humber

Accepted Answer

Mentoring West Midlands – Yorkshire and the Humber

Delivering within the Yorkshire and the Humber area, Mentoring West Midlands deliver a wide variety of specialist provision as part of the Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) CFO3 programme. The ‘Genus Project’ offers specialised support interventions for offenders with limited family ties.

The project is delivered in partnership with Coventry University and works with some of the hardest to reach offenders who, as a result of their behavioural and lifestyle choices, have difficulties maintaining sustainable relationships with their children and families.

Project delivery is split into two categories. The Building Positive Futures Programme (BPF) engages with participants for approximately 8-10 weeks, whilst the participant is in custody. Delivery centres on a holistic approach and encourages participants to address all lifestyle and decision-making issues. This collaborative process assists programme leaders to facilitate individual change by enabling participants to understand how they have chosen to behave in the past and how they can have greater control in the future.

In addition to the BPF course, family assessment and support is available in partnership with statutory agencies. Contact is made with the participant’s family, which leads to ongoing family engagement whilst the participant completes the BPF course. This allows for continuity of messages regarding behaviours and lifestyles and assists in understanding what kind of support is required. This dual approach increases the impact and success of the overall programme for those involved.

As at November 2021, 1914 participants have engaged with the programme. Details on specific outcomes are awaited, however evaluation data shows that there is a high completion rate of 95% of people on the programme.

Connecting Opportunities – West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire

Connecting Opportunities is a project supporting new migrants to develop their employment skills, find work and be part of their local community. It does not provide support with immediate needs, such as housing, immigration advice or benefits.

The project is led by Migration Yorkshire and delivered by 10 third sector organisations, which specialise in working with migrants across West Yorkshire and parts of North Yorkshire - Craven, Harrogate, Selby, and York. The project is co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.

Connecting opportunities started in 2017 and aims to support the most vulnerable and marginalised new migrants to integrate and become economically active members of the wider community. The project recognises that migrants can face many barriers to work and that they have skills, strengths and potential, which could remain untapped if they do not receive support.

Specialist activities delivered to help address these barriers include one-to-one counselling and employment and training support, conversational and English Language support, cultural orientation, wellbeing activities and social activities to reduce isolation and improve confidence.

The project also creates opportunities for local people to become volunteer mentors and befrienders, for employers to provide work placements to help migrants get a foothold in the job market - and for participants to influence the project, through volunteering as Connecting Opportunities Champions.

By 30 September 2021, the project has supported over 1406 new migrants with over 67% having moved into employment, education or training; and 66% feeling closer to the job market.

Read more about Connecting Opportunities

North East Ambition programme

The North East Ambition programme works to deliver on the North East Strategic Economic Plan to ensure that demand for skills and the quality of jobs continue to improve, leading to a more productive, inclusive, and sustainable regional economy.

Delivered by Education Development Trust in partnership with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, the programme follows the North East Ambition pilot, which addressed regional skills gap by bringing together educators and small to medium enterprises (SMEs). The programme’s expansion provides employers with enhanced support, to ensure they can access skills they need for productivity and growth, while also enabling the labour market and education system to be more strategically aligned.

North East Ambition works with businesses across all sectors, with a focus on the four areas in the North East economy identified as having a strong opportunity for growth, which includes digital, advanced manufacturing, health and life sciences, and energy. It also works with four enabling service sectors (education; financial, professional and business services; transport and logistics; and construction) that support the wider economy and offer significant opportunities for more and better jobs.

The project aims to help SMEs build their capacity, improving the opportunities to provide placements, work experience and apprenticeships, as well as providing information on support schemes that fund training and recruitment. Skills facilitators work directly with businesses to identify their long-term needs and develop a bespoke plan to support them in addressing current and future skills gaps.

The programme also links employers with education, including the co-design of training provision, participation in learning challenges, project-based learning activities, and connecting with the Enterprise Advisor and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Ambassador Network. Support includes addressing skills gaps and shortages through workforce development planning and completing a training need analysis.

As of October 2021, the project has registered 142 businesses onto the programme and has started supporting 128 SMEs with their skills needs.

Tees Valley Collaborative Skills Development Partnership – Skills for Growth

Skills for Growth focuses on supporting local economic growth by meeting the current and future skills needs of Tees Valley Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SME), including cooperative enterprises and enterprises of the social economy.

The project is a joint initiative from Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) and Teesside University International Business School to identify skills needs and access employee training to help business growth. It supports businesses from five local authority areas across a wide range of sectors, particularly those that operate in the priority, high demand and replacement demand sectors. These include, amongst others: Digital, Energy and Renewables, Advanced Manufacturing, Logistics, Construction and Health and Social Care.

The Skills for Growth programme works with a team of experienced Skills Development Officers to help SMEs to explore and decide the direction they want their business to go in; and from this complete a comprehensive analysis to identify skills gaps within their business to help understand current and future training needs. This leads to the development of a bespoke skills development plan, which highlights a range of training support options from local training providers.

As a joint initiative across the Tees Valley, the Skills for Growth (TVCSDP) Project is also taking a proactive research approach to help shape and inform future training and development provision for SMEs across the area.

Up to October 2021, the project has engaged with 306 employers and has identified over 400 requested training interventions from committed employers. 297 participants are already on their journey of learning new skills and improving their knowledge, for their own development and in support of employers’ business growth plans.

Positive Progressions – York and North Yorkshire

Delivered across Craven, Harrogate, Selby and York, Positive Progressions helps people get back into sustainable employment, by providing mentoring and support around health, finances, and skills to disadvantaged individuals and families experiencing a range of complex challenges.

The project is co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and supports economically inactive or unemployed individuals to overcome barriers and move closer towards employment, as well as addressing a range of social issues such as poverty, isolation, and social exclusion.

Each participant is assigned a dedicated key worker who develops a personalised programme of support. They conduct a holistic assessment of each individual’s needs and develop tailored support measures, which include signposting and referrals to mainstream and other services, access to services for health-related barriers, support to become work-ready, as well as one-to-one wellbeing and resilience coaching.

The project uses specifically designed measurement tools for participants to illustrate where they are on their personal journey, using simple statements. This captures any changes in wellbeing, confidence, resilience, and work-readiness over the duration of the project.

Positive Progressions works closely with intervention partners who provide a range of activities, including: skills development in Maths, English, Information and Communications Technology, financial capability and debt advice, household management and healthy eating on a budget.

Up to October 2021, the project has supported 241 participants and 96 have moved into employment.

The Cheshire and Warrington Pledge

The Pledge Partnership puts employers at the heart of informing and inspiring young people about local career and progression opportunities and the skills and qualities employers are looking for.

The project is managed by Changing Young Lives Limited, in partnership with Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership and other public, private and third sector partners.

Its delivery is split into nine local sub regional Pledges, each led by a Pledge Facilitator working with employers, alongside support from co-ordinators who work with schools, colleges and youth groups. The local Pledges also work closely in providing learning opportunities on the National Citizen Service programme.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project moved its delivery online which gave employers a new platform to continue to inspire more young people about local careers advice, including for example on the growing need for digital and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills. This digital delivery led to more engagement from schools who were reliant on the project to deliver careers activities to their pupils.

By the end of October 2021, the project has had over 70,000 attendees, involving over 480 partners, including over 400 businesses and over 80 educational providers.

Read more about The Cheshire and Warrington Pledge

Cumbria Positive Futures

Cumbria Positive Futures supports unemployed and economically inactive young people aged 15-24 across Cumbria who are either not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET.

The project is run by PET-Xi and works closely with schools and other partner organisations. Through a mix of motivational and confidence building activities and personalised mentoring, it aims to re-engage these young people and help them gain qualifications and employability skills and move towards and into work, or further education or training.

Additional activities to help young people reach their potential includes support with English and Mathematics, applying for a job, CV and cover-letter writing and interview skills.

Up to September 2021, the project has supported 312 participants with 273 going onto Further Education or employment.

Read more about Cumbria Positive Futures

Inside and Out – Greater Manchester

Delivered until February 2021, the aim of the Inside and Out project was to support prisoners and ex-offenders to progress into education, training and employment and through that increase their opportunities to live a crime-free life.

The project was delivered by Achieve North West and Back on Track as part of an ESF co-funded HMPPS (Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service) CFO3 programme to help reduce reoffending. The course was delivered to prisoners who were within 12 weeks of release and was followed by intensive post release support.

Following enrolment, with the assistance of a caseworker, participants would agree and take forward a personalised action plan. Whilst in custody they undertook life skills course modules covering health and wellbeing, financial management, social inclusion, work preparation, and housing. Guest speakers and partner agencies would attend the sessions, and participant successes were celebrated with accredited awards.

The education, training and employment support included specialist opportunities around volunteering and enterprise mentoring, plus one-to-one employability support tailored to the needs of people with convictions. Pre-release action plans were completed with each participant which covered practical and personal goals and actions related to matters such as housing, finances, or mental health.

On release participants received ongoing one-to-one support to enable them to settle, engage with their community and connect with key services. This included having immediate access to all courses and education sessions at Back on Track and being part of that community. Participants were also advised about learning opportunities at external providers and received specific employability guidance which covered disclosure of convictions.

Inside and outside prison, tutors accompanied participants to appointments and connected them into relevant services. Each person’s action plan was continually reviewed and updated to reflect any changes in their situation, needs, or priorities.

During the lifetime of the programme 481 positive outcomes, including training courses, gaining employment, volunteering positions, mentoring support and further education courses were delivered to 107 participants.

Changing Futures – Lancashire

Changing Futures offers support to unemployed or economically inactive people across Lancashire who face multiple and complex barriers to employment. The project aims to improve people’s wellbeing and the opportunities available to them, particularly in terms of helping them move towards work or training.

Changing futures is co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and is led by SELNET (Lancashire’s social enterprise network). It is delivered by around 30 mainly voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, which together provide a range of individual guidance, information, volunteering, training, employment and enterprise activities.

The Changing Futures project supports people facing multiple and complex barriers to employment. All participants are unemployed or economically inactive and are at high risk of social exclusion, such as people from disadvantaged communities, people belonging to ethnic minorities, people with physical or mental health problems, people with learning difficulties and people with a history of substance misuse.

Up to September 2021 the Changing Futures project has supported 2034 people and of these 190 have moved into training or education, 179 have moved into employment or self-employment, and 164 economically inactive people are now job searching.

Better Off Finance – Liverpool City Region

Better Off Finance aims to support people facing challenges in accessing employment, by developing their financial capability and resilience, removing barriers to employment and enabling them to move towards and into work.

The project operates across Liverpool City Region and is co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. It is led by The Women’s Organisation and delivered in partnership with local Citizens Advice organisations and Raise, an independent charity that provides financial awareness and advice.

The programme supports disadvantaged communities which face a number of connected problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low income, poor housing, high crime environments, and poor health. It provides free personal support tailored to the individuals needs on a one-to-one basis, and through group training sessions. Evaluation activities have found evidence of significant improvements to wellbeing.

To date this project has supported over 2000 people with the tools, including greater digital awareness, that they need to improve their financial situation and progress to positive and, in many cases, life-changing outcomes. Of these, 811 participants have progressed into job search, training, education, or employment.

KAFE Konnect – Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

KAFE Konnect (Kernow Action for Employment) helps people who are furthest away from the labour market to improve their employability prospects and achieve personal goals. It is delivered through the Community Led Local Development (CLLD) strand of the ESF Programme, which operates in some of the most deprived wards in the country.

Kafe Konnect, run by Konnect Communities (a Community Interest Company), provides needs-based support to individuals living in specific postcodes. The project, which has operated in the Atlantic and Moor area of Cornwall, ends in December 2021.

A key component of the support offered is the ‘Life Choices’ course, which identifies and addresses the underlying issues that can block progress, such as low self-esteem, low confidence, motivation and aspiration, past trauma and adverse childhood experiences.

One-to-one coaching and mentoring offer each participant personalised help. This includes tailored advice, support, and advocacy on a range of issues such as: health and wellbeing, financial management, housing, participating in volunteering opportunities, and accessing and using communication technologies.

Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic and subsequent lockdown periods, KAFE Konnect adapted its delivery model, including through remote delivery, to ensure this vital provision remained accessible.

By the end of September 2021, the Atlantic and Moor project had engaged over 120 hardest-to-help unemployed or inactive persons and was supporting over 40 participants into employment, education, training, or job searching. A new CLLD KAFE Konnect project is starting in the Coast to Coast area of Cornwall in December 2021.

Read more about KAFE Konnect (Coast to Coast)

Cultivator – Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Cultivator is a business and skills development programme that supports the creative sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly by identifying their skills needs and providing activities that respond to their requirements. Businesses supported are diverse and include visual artists, musicians, film makers and heritage sites. It is funded by both ESF and European Regional Development Fund programmes; and also receives funding from the Arts Council England and Cornwall Council.

The project is run by Creative Kernow, a creative and cultural support organisation, which works closely with Cornwall College, Cornwall Development Company and other local partner organisations.

Since the project began in 2016 Cultivator has supported over 1000 creative industries small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to develop their businesses. Support is offered via a broad range of programme strands, including one-to-one consultations with sector specialist advisors, as well as a range of grant funding opportunities, employment bursaries, skills workshops, and networking events to help them grow and connect with the right people.

There is also a flexible internship programme which supports small and medium enterprises (SME) to appoint interns, and apprentices, designing each role to match their skills and capacity requirements; as well as enabling SMEs to benefit from taking part in collaborative projects working with students and graduates.

Outcomes include increased employment opportunities, new products to market, upskilling of the sector and more resilient creative sector businesses.

Who Dares Works – Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

Who Dares Works supports individuals in West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to overcome their barriers to education, training and employment. The project is led by Active Plus, in partnership with local social enterprises and is co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund.

Each participant is assigned a mentor who supports them through their journey. At the heart of the project is the Active Plus course. This is delivered by military veterans and is designed to build-confidence, motivation and self-belief, as people complete activities in small groups.

Project partners offer specialist support and work-related activities including courses on construction, care and the creative arts, and advice and counselling on housing support, benefits and managing money and wellbeing. Participants can also access support to improve their work-readiness which includes volunteering, work experience days, CV creation, job searching and preparing for interviews.

Softer, complimentary health and wellbeing services are available as part of the holistic approach taken by the project to help people realise their goals.

To help ensure a lasting change, each person who moves into employment has the opportunity to access in-work support from their mentor for up to six months. This helps them address any challenges and enhances sustained employment prospects.

Up to October 2021 the project has supported over 680 individuals within West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly into education, training, employment and job search (for economically inactive participants).

Work Start – Gloucestershire

Work Start is a free 52-week programme, designed to help people who are unemployed to progress into employment and provide them with the skills and support to remain in employment.

The project is delivered by Dimensions Training Solutions and co-funded by the Department for Work and Pensions. It aims to tackle unemployment amongst people who face barriers to work by providing help and support to address each person’s needs. On starting, each participant is allocated a personal advisor who explains what the programme offers. A personalised action plan is agreed that sets out the person’s needs, career goals and the path to achieve them This plan is reviewed and updated regularly.

Help to find sustainable work is provided through support for job search activities, CV writing and interview preparation. This sits alongside appropriate skills training, as well as tailored help and support to break down any other barriers to progress into work that have been identified. This personalised support helps improve participants’ confidence, motivation and wellbeing, which also opens up opportunities for further learning and training type activity.

Once a person is in work, support remains in place to help their transition into sustainable employment.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic project activity was adapted to support participants through a remote delivery approach. As national restrictions have been removed, face to face activities have resumed, but support remains in place for those not yet ready to engage in this way.

Up to June 2021 the project has worked with 978 participants of which 203 people are in sustainable employment.

Empowering Enterprise – Heart of the South West

Empowering Enterprise works with socially excluded 18 to 24 year olds throughout Devon, Plymouth and Torbay to equip them with skills for life and work, giving them the confidence to find a path to a brighter future.

Led by Petroc, a Further Education College in Devon, the project is co-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and delivered by collaborative and flexible working across a partnership of seven organisations.

A main outcome for the project is that young people improve their employability, entrepreneurial and life skills. Through a combination of one-to-one mentoring and group activity sessions, young people have gained confidence, skills and experience and been supported to navigate a path into work, education or training without being overwhelmed by other issues in their lives.

Amongst many other varied examples, Empowering Enterprise has given young people opportunities to organise events like beach cleans, gaming tournaments and social inclusion fairs; engaged employers to understand the potential of employees who have gaps in their work history and how to support them; and worked with the community in Plymouth to increase opportunities for refugees and improve local services.

By October 2020 the project had exceeded its participant target of 630, working with 657 young people. The project also exceeded its target for getting young people into a positive progression of either work, job search or education. 50% of participants have made a positive progression. Empowering Enterprise now hopes to support at least 989 young people by Summer 2023.

West of England Works – Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset

The West of England Works project aims to help long-term unemployed and economically inactive people secure sustainable employment.

The project, led by Weston College and co-funded from The National Lottery Community Fund, is delivered with voluntary and community organisations based in Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset.

Those delivering the project offer individualised support to help people of all ages who face multiple and often complex barriers to work achieve their personal goals. This support includes addressing the needs of young people not in education, employment and training (NEET), people belonging to ethnic minorities, carers, ex-offenders, those with long-term health issues and people with a history of substance abuse. The aim is to ensure that once people leave the project, they will be able to benefit from skills they have acquired and sustain their employment.

Support differs by participant but may include: one-to-one and separate group sessions covering, for example, counselling, confidence building, skills development in the participants preferred area, money management, literacy and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills development, and housing advice and support.

Other measures available to help improve employability and assist transition to employment include: English as a second language (ESOL) support, periods of supported work experience, job matching, close working with Jobcentre Plus and other agencies, and support for the participant’s wider family and social network.

To September 2021, 2256 participants have benefited from the project. Almost 50% of those supported have gone on to achieve a progression into job search, employment, or education; and those that have left the project have reported improvements in either their confidence, mental health or awareness of opportunities.

Cookies on GOV.UK