The Family Employment Initiative

The project is a precursor to training and employment, using a specialist engagement programme designed to create supported pathways for individuals and families in targeted areas using many different techniques.

These techniques will involve volunteering, community and group activity and employability skills and support. Given the high and increasing profile of environmental concerns and climate change, environmental activity will be one technique used to increase engagement and economic activity.

This project will provide volunteering opportunities as well as accredited training, assisting people into work and further learning.

Working closely with partners to provide a variety of services including confidence building, interview techniques and work placements.

BTCV will directly deliver:

• Direct specialist engagement with communities and individuals
• Offer and deliver a wide menu of volunteer opportunities
• Provide soft skills support e.g. confidence building, time management, team building
• Support to engage with other programmes to initiate the next step philosophy “Signposting”
• To conduct a skills analysis for every participant and develop a working document that can be developed as the participant moves through the project.

BTCV will signpost people to:

• Bridges into work (all provision they offer as identified through participants skills analysis)
• Heads of the Valleys City Strategy (for specific employment-related training)
• Intermediate Labour market (Lams, etc)
• Action Teams for Jobs (for specific employment-related training)

Aims:

• To work with people in their local communities to provide an accessible service.
• Help families to challenge personal and social barriers through volunteering, work trials etc, and increase aspirations for themselves and their neighbourhoods.
• To maximise the effect and collaboration of networks and local agencies to addres skills and labour market gaps e.g. activities to support collaborative work between employment opportunities and health sectors, including work with GPs and primary care providers; the provision of advice and guidance on managing work-limiting health conditions and encourage and maximise the take up of men and women in non-traditional roles to satisfy skills shortages.
• Use small-scale community-led projects that provide engagement linked to training and employment.
• To encourage take-up of learning and training opportunities to improve skills or to re-skill and to offer motivation incentives and support for employers, encouraging them to employ older individuals.
• The programme develops confidence, and specific, transferrable skills through engaging communities and individuals through a variety of techniques that leads to training and employment opportunities. In areas of high worklessness, up to three generations of the same family can gain skills and qualifications to enhance employability. The programme has direct links to local employers.
• The project will tackle ill-health as a barrier to economic activity. A number of activities under the broad heading of “Green Exercise – the Natural Health Service” (including Green Gyms, walking, cycling, collective use of allotments) are available to FEI participants to build their health and fitness.

Find out more about the Family Employment Initiative, local news and events.