Fund to improve and align support services
A new £2.5 million fund will improve the help delivered to people looking to access employment and training. The Employability Innovation and Integration Fund will look to join up employment support with health and social care, justice and housing services, making sure people receive the level of support they need to find sustainable employment. Continue reading More help to get into work
A day of celebration but serious challenges lie ahead
Local women have just completed a lottery-funded Making It Work employability course and they celebrated their success with a special event at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre last week. The highlight of the event was the premiere of a film made to document the young mothers’ experiences, and while there were smiles and laughs there were tears and no little anger too.
Film maker George Williamson worked alongside the women during their experience of getting ready to return to the world of work and he recorded the difficulties the young mums have faced along the way. From juggling household finances and getting kids to and from school to finding affordable, flexible childcare is challenging enough – but then to be hit with changes to the benefits system that could see you lose your home adds a whole new series of anxieties.
Some of the women have been faced with as a result of welfare reforms, exacerbated by cuts to Discretionary Housing Payments. Some don’t know where they will be living from one day to the next – yet they are still expected to look for work.
This sudden change in circumstances has seen the women add another string to their bow: lobbying and campaigning. The women have lobbied councillors at the City Chambers and last week held a peaceful protest at Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson’s constituency office in Roseburn.
The film sparked a debate about the implications of welfare reforms and benefits at the packed Royston Wardieburn event which was attended by MSPs Alison Johnstone and Ben Macpherson, North and Leith prospective MP Diedre Brock and new Forth Councillor Ellie Bird.
“We want to work, but it’s not easy”, said Johan. “There are a lot of barriers.”
“Not knowing where your kids will be sleeping is heartbreaking. It’s the not knowing that’s most upsetting – that’s the hardest part” said Rachel, one of the victims of the welfare reforms.
“Mums work all day, every day and even when the kids reach school age there are very few jobs that fit around the school day”, said Heather. “Single mums do want to work, but not just any job at any cost.”
Yvonne was lucky enough to be offered her ‘dream job’ – only to have to turn it down when childcare arrangements fell through. “It’s a nightmare to try to plan work commitments around childcare. There needs to be much more flexibility” she said.
All About Me mums organised and ran the whole event with the help of their support worker Pauline Nicol-Bowie, who also wrote a poem for the occasion. The Benefit Cap was read by group member Jade Ashley-Parker (below).
The poem, The Benefit Cap, reads:
Oh look, here they come
Scrounging their benefits
and away they run.
Make-up, eyebrows, brand new phones,
Dinnae bother paying their loans.
Bairns in designer gear
Jog on, pal!
We live in fear.
Sanctions, PIP, ESA
I cannae pay my bills
What am I tae dae?
Benefits caps, foodbanks,
Homelessness to name a few.
Ignore us, Councillors,
‘Cos it’s no’ happening to you.
Another week, another meeting,
Get a job is all I hear,
I’m trying!!
Sick of greetin’,
I’m never gettting a career.
Kids are fed, homework done,
Oh,today wasnae fun!
Kids tucked up nice and cosy,
One more thing, their kiss and story.
Kids asleep, it;s time for ma tea
Oh, shit!
There’s nowt for me
It’s okay, I’ll eat tomorrow,
It just means I’ll have to borrow.
Even with my daily struggles
My kids will always get lots of cuddles.
All my worries are so depressing
Thank God for my kids
THEY ARE MY BLESSING!
Capital City Partnership’s Irene Thomson (below), who leads the Making it Work project, said: “This was a Big Lottery funded initiative to support lone parents into work. Over the four-year duration we have supported 100 people into work and eighty into training, far exceeding the targets set at the outset so it has been a great success.
“It will be really sad to leave behind such a great bunch of very inspirational women, but we hope that we are leaving them in a better place.”
The funding for the group ends in September, but the women plan to continue to meet regularly. They also have a Facebook page.
Congratulations Tasha, Ashleigh, Heather, Rachael, Michelle, Johan, Jade, Deborah and Siobhan who made the event such a success – and congratulations too to everyone else who took part in the group but who couldn’t be there on the day.
There will be two further opportunities to see the film and meet the women this month.
On Friday 23 June, the Making it Work team will hold an event at Central Hall, Tollcross from 1.30 – 3.30pm. As well as an opportunity to meet the parents and see the film there will be face-painting and balloon modelling activities with free creche.
The group will also present their film at North Edinburgh Arts on Friday 23 June at 4.30pm.
STEM: That’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths – but you knew that, of course!
A team of employees from Edinburgh electronics company Leonardo (better known to us old-timers as Ferranti’s!) are planting a ‘STEM’ seed that could lead to improved career prospects for Craigroyston Community High School pupils. Continue reading Planting the STEM seed at Craigie
Alison Johnstone, Lothian MSP and Scottish Green Party Spokesperson on Health, Wellbeing and Sport, joined two groups of young people from Street League Edinburgh as they played a friendly match at Spartans Community Football Academy at Ainslie Park yesterday. Continue reading On the ball: Johnstone meets Street League stars at Spartans
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT – #VOTEGYC
We promised you big news – and here it is! We’re delighted to announce that Granton Youth Centre is one of the finalists for the RBS Skills and Opportunities Funding. Continue reading Granton Youth Centre needs your help!
Tomorrow’s People are taking referrals for their next Working It Out course that starts this month. The Working It Out course supports unemployed young people – 16-24 yrs – to gain experience and build skills to enter into further training or employment.
Every course is made up of 14 young people, with the majority of the programme spent working on community challenges. These challenges help build a young person’s employability skills, experience, team-work skills and self-esteem.
The challenges benefit the local community and give an opportunity for young people to be seen doing something positive in their local community.
Recent challenges have included:
The programme runs for 16 weeks – places are limited but young people living in North Edinburgh are prioritised.
For further information telephone 0798 066 9019 or email wio.edinburgh@tomorrows-people.co.uk
Young people looking for their first job: Mark Lazarowicz MP calls on Government to offer support not stereotypes
Mark Lazarowicz MP is highlighting a new scheme run by the voluntary sector EY Foundation that will offer paid work experience, advice and support to young people in Edinburgh looking for their first job.
Youth unemployment (amongst 16-24 year-olds) is still running at 18.1% in Scotland and 16.9% in the UK as a whole. In Scotland it has increased by 4.5% since 2008.
The North and Leith MP is urging young people in Edinburgh to apply for the Foundation’s Smart Futures scheme, a ten-month paid work experience programme.
He said: “Schemes like Smart Futures and the City Council’s Edinburgh Guarantee are priceless opportunities for young people to get experience and the skills to succeed in finding their first job.
“Labour is committed to introducing a compulsory Jobs Guarantee that would ensure young people who are unemployed start gaining vital work experience and skills.
“Too often the Government resorts to negative stereotypes, talking of the well-worn path from school gate to Jobcentre and on to a life on benefits.
“The reality is that the vast majority of young people desperately want to work and are eager to apply for schemes like Smart Futures – the Government should learn from it and the Edinburgh Guarantee because too often it’s the Government that’s failing not young people.”
The scheme gives young people work experience and the chance to meet with people in business and get valuable tips on writing CVs, application and interview advice, as well as an EY Foundation mentor throughout Sixth Year.
The City Council’s Edinburgh Guarantee aims to ensure that every school leaver goes into employment, further education, or training by bringing them together with employers. There is more information on how it works at
https://www.edinburghguarantee.org/about-us/
Applications for the EY Foundation’s summer 2015 Smart Futures scheme are now open until 1 March 2015 and anyone keen to apply can find more information on it at http://ukcareerguide.ey.com/schools/ey-smart-futures
‘Getting out there and speaking with people is just as important as being online’ – Grahame Smith, Scottish STUC
Technology may have invaded every aspect of our lives, but new research shows a personal touch is still the best when it comes to getting a job.
The 2014 Employer Perspectives Survey, released today by government skills experts the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), shows that despite the meteoric rise of social media, just 7% of employers say they’ve used it to recruit new staff.
Based on interviews with more than 18,000 employers across the UK, the study reveals that recruitment methods involving the human touch, such as filling vacancies through word of mouth and personal recommendation are still widely used by employers.
Just over one in ten (11%) of employers said they used work experience as a recruitment tool, whilst the number offering a job as a result of a speculative enquiry has more than doubled.
Although the findings may be welcomed by parents who are unconvinced that their offspring’s broadband consumption actually equates to job hunting, the researchers say the findings point to a greater need to hone jobseekers’ social skills.
Grahame Smith, a Commissioner at UKCES and General Secretary of the Scottish TUC said:
Digital skills are crucial in the modern workplace, and while many young people excel in this area, these findings show how important it is for jobseekers to also develop their personal presence. Getting out there and speaking with people is just as important as being online, but it’s more difficult for the digital generation.
That’s why it’s important to break down the barriers between education and employers. By offering simple things like business mentoring, careers talks, work experience and mock interviews, businesses can make a huge difference to the future of young people. Our research shows that whilst only a minority of employers currently work with schools and colleges in this way, the good news is that those that do say it’s easy and rewarding.
Michael Davis, chief executive of UKCES, said:
For those looking for work, making use of social media when job hunting can bring a world of information at the click of a mouse, but when it comes to making that all important first impression it seems there’s no substitute for legwork.
This research shows that what really matters to employers is an opportunity to get face to face with candidates, and get a real understanding of how they tick and what they can offer.
For employers it’s important to not become over-dependent on one form of recruitment. Our research shows that word of mouth is still commonly used to hire staff – but this risks missing out on a huge talent pool just because people don’t happen to be plugged into the right professional networks.
By striking a balance, both sides can benefit. Creating strong links with local education providers is just one way of achieving this, allowing employers to see first-hand what young people can offer, while simultaneously giving young people opportunity to build crucial contacts.
Other findings from the report include:
Just another day at the office, so I thought, when a weel-kent face came in with leaflets for a new ‘SET UP & GO PROGRAMME’ – information on a course designed to support individuals into self–employment/working from home.
Readers of the loved NEN paper will without doubt remember the ‘Where’s Bert?’ feature – it was terrific to see Bert looking so fit and well and still working for the Community.
The course duration is 12 hours per week over 3 days; in a 3 week course.
If you do not have this leaflet and are interested in it, please feel free to pop into Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre where we have the leaflets at the reception desk. ( OOPS did I give the location of Bert away ? Sorry – there will be no prizes for guessing where Bert is now!
For further detail contact Bert on 0758925313 or Lynne 07816786934.
PICTURE: MMCC manager Peter Airlie (left) with Bert and Lynne
James McGinty, Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre
Just another day at the office, so I thought, when a weel-kent face came in with leaflets for a new ‘SET UP & GO PROGRAMME’ – information on a course designed to support individuals into self–employment/working from home.
Readers of the loved NEN paper will without doubt remember the ‘Where’s Bert?’ feature – it was terrific to see Bert looking so fit and well and still working for the Community.
The course duration is 12 hours per week over 3 days; in a 3 week course.
If you do not have this leaflet and are interested in it, please feel free to pop into Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre where we have the leaflets at the reception desk. ( OOPS did I give the location of Bert away ? Sorry – there will be no prizes for guessing where Bert is now!
For further detail contact Bert on 0758925313 or Lynne 07816786934.
PICTURE: MMCC manager Peter Airlie (left) with Bert and Lynne
James McGinty, Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre
