Last call for Childcare course places

LAST CHANCE TO APPLY FOR THE CHILDCARE ACADAMY IN 2014!!!

Childcare Poster
Good Morning

We have a few spaces left on the Childcare Academy starting on 25 August.

I have attached a poster and standard information for display and distribution.

Thanks

Audrey O’Neill
Training Administrator
North Edinburgh Childcare
18b Ferry Road Avenue
Edinburgh
EH4 4BL

DDI: 0131 311 6931
Fax: 0131 315 4420

www.northedinburghchildcare.co.uk

August 2014 CA Publicity Poster 01.06.14

26.11.13 Updated Childcare Academy Standard Information

Jobs Fair at Granton Campus

Edinburgh's Telford Exterior

Edinburgh College is hosting a jobs fair next Wednesday (30 April), where job seekers will have the opportunity to meet potential employers.

The jobs fair is aimed at anyone looking for a new job, including students about to finish their studies and people looking to change careers. More than 20 organisations will be present at the event, where attendees will be able to find out about career opportunities, full and part-time vacancies, and volunteer and placement opportunities.

Organisations attending include: Skills Development Scotland; Volunteer Centre Edinburgh; Radisson Hotels; Smile Childcare; The Action Group; Blue Arrow; Apex Hotels; Autism Initiatives; the Army; the RAF; Jobcentre Plus; Scottish Ambulance Service; Specialized Security; Remploy; Business Gateway; Independent Living Services; Police Scotland; Brightwork Ltd.

As well as employers, the Support@Work group, which is part of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, will be available to advise on employee rights and explain how to resolve any issues with an employer. It has previously helped students with issues such as not receiving the minimum wage or a proper contract of employment. Edinburgh College’s Jobzone and Student Services staff will also be on hand to provide advice about careers.

The jobs fair is free to attend and is taking place on Wednesday 30 April between 3pm and 6pm at:

Edinburgh College Granton Campus,
350 West Granton Road,
Edinburgh, EH5 1QE

Wow! Lottery funding for local womens’ project

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The Big Lottery Fund Scotland announced its latest package of funding worth over £5.5 million to eleven projects across Scotland today – and Leith-based Women onto Work (WoW) was one of the biggest winners, receiving a grant of £600,000.

Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said: “I am delighted to announce this latest round of grants from our Investing in Communities portfolio. JMT Care Services’ In Touch project supports young people as they leave care and Midlothian Sure Start is helping fathers, who have complex issues, develop a relationship with their children. Women onto Work will provide skills and experience for women across Edinburgh to take that first step back into employment and I am delighted that our money will help to expand this service further. All three projects are focusing on the heart of the community, trying to ensure a good start for our children and young people. They are doing extremely valuable work helping people in need and building stronger, more connected communities. These are excellent examples of the type of project we wish to fund and it is good to know that today’s grants will enhance the services they provide.”

Based at Norton Park, Women Onto Work receives a grant of £600k to provide help to women across the capital who need a bit of extra support to help them get back into the workplace. Each woman who enters the “Ready For Work” programme will receive tailored training and be able to access one to one coaching support which will help to signpost them to further education, training, job clubs or volunteering opportunities.

WoW Business Development Manager, Alex Lambert, said: “Women Onto Work has been supporting women who face barriers move towards employment since 1989. We help them to develop new skills so they have the best possible chance of finding sustainable employment. We are absolutely thrilled about this funding which means that we are going to be able to offer this platinum, personalised service to nearly 350 new clients over the next three years. These new clients will be women who live with a mental or emotional health problem and those who are struggling single parents. Women who are currently socially and financially marginalised and simply cannot get the help they need to progress through existing services.

“As well as scaling up our work to meet unmet demand in Edinburgh, the Big Lottery Fund award means we’re now going to be able to offer our service to women in the Lothians and Scottish Borders. We can’t wait to share this news with all of our partners and, most importantly, with the many women who are waiting for this service.”

Today’s funding is part of a package of eleven Big Lottery Fund Scotland, Investing in Community grants totalling £5,618,181. To see today’s other successful projects visit  http://news.biglotteryfund.org.uk/newsroom-uk.

Working it Out with Tomorrow’s People

A free training programme in Muirhouse is looking for new participants.

If you are aged 16 – 24, unemployed, not in education or training and keen to learn new skills, meet new people and gain new experiences then please get in touch.

The Working It Out programme runs for 16 weeks and offers a range of activities and challenges that allow you to develop personal skills, volunteer in your own community, improve your job prospects and offer information and access to further education and training. Participants are supported throughout the programme and for up to 12 months after and all expenses are paid for the duration of the 16 week course.

Working it Out is run by Tomorrow’s People, based in North Edinburgh Arts Centre. If you are interested in making a positive change in your life, increasing your skills to help you get a job, or interested in getting back into education, then please contact Andrew or Heather on 07989669019 or e-mail aaldous@tomorrows-people.co.uk

A career in childcare?

Ever thought about a career in childcare? North Edinburgh Childcare (NEC) will be running a new INTO CHILDCARE course in November, and are holding an information session about the course on Frday 19 October.

NEC Training Administrator Kim Weir said: “If you are interested in this course please contact me on the number below to book a place on the information session being held on Friday 19 October. Please note that there are only a limited number of places available on this course, so bookings will be taken during the drop in session and from this selection the places will be allocated. Due to the availability of places it may be the case that not all the people who attend the drop in session will be successful in securing a place on the course.”

For further information contact Kim at North Edinburgh Childcare on 311 6931 or email Kim.weir@northedinburghchildcare.co.uk

 

Going Forth with Granton Youth Centre

Nae work? Nae money? Nae chance? Nae choice? Bored? Nowt to do?

Granton Youth Centre’s Go Forth team can help find you work, support you to make money and offer you choices and chances to improve you and your life.

Contact Jamie, Mary or Tracey on 467 5854 or just drop in for an informal chat at Granton Youth Centre at 3 – 11 West Granton Road (near Granton Square)  – it might just change your life!

Following up employability in Forth

The lack of employment opportunities remains a problem in North Edinburgh, where unemployment figures remain stubbornly high. A conference held in North Edinburgh Arts Centre last week looked at what is being done to improve the life chances of people struggling to gain employment in Forth.

The city council recently introduced a new Integrated Employability Service (IES). The IES is set out in the Council’s new employability commissioning strategy and refocuses council investment on four priority areas: young people, early intervention to prevent future long-term unemployment, support for regeneration areas and action to reduce low pay.

There’s a lot of jargon and strange language used – hubs, strategic skills pipelines, sustained outcomes and gateways – but put simply IES will establish a clear local service framework to better align services and make it easier for those seeking information about work to get the appropriate support and advice. The IES will evolve over the next three years.

City council Employability Service official Brian Martin (pictured above)told around thirty delegates: “What we had before was a lot of money scattered around hither and thither, with no one department having overall responsibility for employability money. That’s changed, and we’re starting to work better together; aligning better with the national agencies and improving our communications. There’s a recognition that we need to be much more pro-active but we are also realistic – we can work with agencies to supply training opportunities but if there are no jobs it becomes meaningless for participants. What we need is early warnings from potential employers – what they are planning and what skills their workforce will need. The sooner we have this information, the more likely it is we ca have people ‘job ready’ when these opportunities arise”.

The forthcoming 21st Century Homes redevelopment in Pennywell and a possible hotel and leisure complex at Crewe Toll have been identified as two potential employment opportunities for local people, and others have been earmarked. 

Along with WEACT, Forth Sector and Volunteer Centre Edinburgh, local employment agency Community Renewal was part of the Stevenson Consortium which successfully bid for the citywide Employment Services Contract. The new service started on 1 May and is delivered from ‘hubs’ in Sighthill, the Community Renewal office in Muirhouse and Haywired in Craigmillar with an additional outreach service in Gilmerton.

Community Renewal’s Nigel Green (pictured above) explained how the new consortium works and went on to outline the various ways the partnership supports local people in their search for work – through referrals to the hubs and also through outreach work at a wide range of locations.

“It is early days for the consortium but we are pleased with how things have progressed so far”, he said. “Community Renewal is already quite well-known in North Edinburgh but we are now covering a much wider area with a much bigger client base. That presents new challenges, but the important thing for all of us is to make sure that the support for the client is there when they need it.”

Closing the meeting, Forth Neighbourhood Partnership convener Councillor Cammy Day said: “It’s clear that there is a lot of work going on to improve the employability chances of local people, and the challenge for us is just how to get that word out into the wider community. People need to know what support is available and we may try to do this through a wider, community conference type event.”

 

North Edinburgh Arts to host employability event

North Edinburgh Arts Centre is to host a major Employability event later this month. Organised by Forth Neighbourhood Partnership, ‘Employability in Forth’ follows on from a successful event held at Edinburgh’s Telford College which looked at local employability issues and initiatives.
Employability in Forth
Tuesday 18 September  2012
10.30am – 12.30 followed by buffet  lunch
North Edinburgh Arts  Centre
15a Pennywell  Court
Following  the Employment Networking Event held  at Edinburgh’s Telford College earlier this year  we would like to invite you to a follow up session.
A final programme for  the date will be sent out soon but will include:
  • An update on progress on Edinburgh’s Employability Service from the Council’s Employability and Skills team.
  • A presentation from Stevenson College and Community Renewal on how the new Integrated Employment Service (Hub) will impact on Forth.
  • Reflection on the discussion at the networking event and further discussion on the best way of addressing employability issues in Forth.
    A summary of  the findings from the Telford College event:

    Summary of discussion at networking event

     Youth Employment 16-19 – How can we help improve the number of young people going into employment and other positive destinations? 

    City wide and National issues

    • Need to increase training capacity across the city
    • Need to look at incentives to take on a young person (converting benefits into wage subsidy?). SDS Employer Recruitment Incentive relevant here.
    • More Modern Apprenticeships.
    • Fund projects that get people directly into jobs.
    • 21st century homes programme should include employability initiatives and apprenticeships, build into the master planning process at an early stage

    Schools and youth agencies

    • Need more vocational courses built into schools and make them on par with academic routes.
    • Increase Careers advice in schools – time spent per pupil
    • Make sure school leavers are aware of choices.
    • Increase opportunities for part time work at schools.
    • Improve links between schools and outside agencies.
    • Need to engage with 12/13 year olds before they become disaffected.
    • Bring local people into schools, including slightly older young people in the job market to “tell it like it is”.
    • High drop out rate of young people from the educational system in the area – need a partnership approach to this
    • Stronger links with local youth agencies
    • Early intervention – teach employability skills in Youth Centres. 

    Mentoring/Attitudes/ Presentation Skills

    • Need to look at building the work ethic and correct attitude to work
    • There are jobs are available – young people need relevant skills and attitude.
    • Most vulnerable have challenges in interview presentation, personal confidence/appearance. Can we make preparing for a work interview a more viable option – Interviewing makeover programme designed and delivered by partners & College.
    • Recognise the value of activity that is not directly job related.
    • Confidence building is the key skill needed to address this issue – e.g. Duke of Edinburgh awards
    • Mentoring and 1 to 1 work makes the difference with young people likely to fail. Can we get higher profile on this? Is there a link with Forth Voluntary Sector forum that could be scaled up – possibly part of TOTAL PLACE project?

    Business Links

    • Involve small businesses.
    • Need strong and sustained links to the business community.
    • Opportunities for local jobs – where are the employers? They need to be part of any action plan, and contribute to better outcomes. Care Sector will have openings locally but perhaps more suited to 20+.
    • Refocus work of SBC – excellent example of recent school projects

    Training/Support

    • Consider putting in place here an innovative supported one stop, integrated accommodation/training /support model for young people Ref Aberdeen Foyer model.
    • Improve links with Telford College Construction faculty
    • More pre-vocational courses needed
    • Use innovative ways of engaging. Community Renewal use informal “ pizza night” approach to inform young people of opportunities

    Strategy/Processes

    • Need a clear strategy for what we want to achieve. Identify who are the key local partners who can actively contribute as part of solution, and stakeholders – these are both important but different things.
    • Need specific statson the scale of this problem in North Edinburgh? E.g. we know that Craigroyston has lowest qualifications, but are we clear which aspects/priority group we need to target – the farthest away from employment, or those who need better direction and are closest to it?
    • Review how we measure and monitor outcomes for longer term benefits
    • Simplify the process and make it clearer to understand for young people and their families

    Employment of those in 20 plus age group: What can we do to help this group into employment?

    City wide and National issues

    • Get more support from large public employers – Council/NHS.
    • Job Centre Plus should be integral member of this partnership – they have new programmes many of us were unaware of and we can join up on how we promote: e.g. work experience programme.
    • More potential for employers to pay a wage for work placements
    • Simplify the process of taking short term and part time work (benefit issues). Allow people to continue on benefits whilst they take part in work experience. If a full time student there are rents/ benefits issues

    Business Links

    • Can SMEs help?
    • How can employers tap into these young people who have successfully come through training and/or work experience

    Training/Support 

    • Improve training in IT Skills.
    • Need to increase the opportunities available – limited support for over 25s. Focussing on 16-19yr could be at expense of this group.
    • Use more Work based training – e.g. CLD Youth Work degree.
    • Provide funded access to learn driving as this opens up job opportunities and builds self-esteem , motivates (Birmingham project over 2 years provided mopeds+ driving test support, then passed mopeds on to next recruits) ; SQA have a qualification that provides evidence for theory test.
    • College is not for many of this group.
    • Difficult to get a second chance for training.
    • Most vulnerable of this age group need a programme similar to younger age group to move on from past errors. Many are parents so could be reached via the schools.

    Mentoring/Attitudes/ Presentation Skills

    • Need to look at role models for people (third generation unemployment, who do they look to?)
    • Home circumstances sometimes do not support a work ethic so how do we support them better
    • How do we apply the carrot and stick?
    • Ask people want they want or need.
    • Hopelessness is a key issue for this age group, but many have a family to support so can motivate, be a key driver, links to schools.
    • Get appropriate local people of this experience and age group to be part of the solution – get a voice.
    • Buddy programme for people from this age to mentor younger ones – need positive role models.
    • A key focus is how to help this age group keep jobs once they have them. 
    • Improve Money management skills – Financial literacy is now a huge issue for 3rd generation of unemployed in families
    • Literacy issues
    • Health issues – mental health issues still area of concern in area

    Other key focus areas – What other key issues could be addressed by partnership working?

    City wide and National issues

    • Different agencies having different geographies – eg Job Centres, Scottish Government.
    • Benefits Changes likely to be detrimental.
    • Community Jobs Scotland – can we do it here? Like S Lanarkshire Youth Jobs fund model, funding paid for local officer, working with a number of organisations to coordinate and direct.
    • Look at potential to include providing local employment opportunities as a part of planning process
    • Crime and anti social behaviour impacts on young people even when they are not directly involved – often as victims.

    Coordination

    • Is there duplication of services locally? So many organisations and short term initiatives makes it had to know what is going on. This gets in the way of joint working
    • Need to simplify structures, increase transparency, work more jointly on service (consortia) and think about longer term initiatives
    • Need to get better at sharing good practice and being open about ideas and services.
    • Strategic overview – planning what is needed in an area.
    • With so many services it is difficult to know who to refer to?
    • Encourage and reward Partnership working

    Funding

    • Danger that simplistic outcome-based funding can work against partnership approach
    • Promote /Develop a “common good fund” – based on £xx contribution from key partners to use for targeted interventions.
    • Important to note the impact of central cuts to funding of local employability projects
    • Short term funding leads to interruptions of planning process

    Information

    • Making sure that all partners have knowledge.
    • Need good labour market information – especially locally.
    • Join up guidance, information and advice locally – forum?
    • Use social media to engage with young people

    The way forward – What is the best way to address these issues locally?

    Structures/Processes 

    • A Forth Action Group supported but think membership should be reviewed- include service providers e.g. Chamber of Commerce, Community Renewal
    • A Forth Employment Action Group be useful but should focus on business and life skills
    • An Action Group could be useful for networking and co-ordination of services
    • Needs to have a clear purpose and have teeth and continuity and commitment.
    • Any Action Group needs a strong effective chair and secretarial support.
    • Meet say twice a year to review outcomes and progress, impact, gaps /next priorities, once groundwork established.
    • Involving local people in processes is important.
    • Short life working groups may be useful.
    • May be best to have a series of themed workshops/forums on issue we want to tackle – and also have 2/3 plenary meetings a year.
    • Cross agency meetings about particularly difficult young people/groups of young people – GIRFEC approach – could be useful.
    • Look at Gate 55 as an ideal model (?).

    Priorities/Issues

    • The initial focus could be on 16-19 year old group.
    • Need to look at how resources can be shared
    • Need to capture local knowledge and advocate for services needed by the community (evidenced approach)
    • Need to build relationships between organisations – joint training sessions around key issues.
    • Get Job Share involved in future activity. 
    • Get clients to come along and describe their experiences and identify flaws/opportunities.
    • Get Challenge Fund MCMC group involved in future activity.
    • Need a review of funding – a more strategic approach to make best use of funding
    • Look at an Action Plan

    Next Steps 

    • Hold a meeting to feedback on the issues raised at Networking event – to plan what action, who should be involved. Look to involve young people (Youth Forum/Parliament?) and employers.

The Edinburgh Guarantee

Ann Confrey with the third in a series of articles on Employment and Training opportunities in North Edinburgh:

The Edinburgh Guarantee

A joint initiative to improve employment opportunities and break the cycle of youth unemployment 

At almost double the adult level, youth unemployment is a growing problem in Edinburgh. Addressing this problem is one of the highest priorities for Edinburgh and the city is meeting the challenge head on with a new political coalition that is working in partnership with business.

The challenge of finding employment is significant enough for those with degrees and good exam results but for anyone without those qualifications that challenge can appear insurmountable.

The numbers tell a bleak story:

  • In the year ending September 2011, 6,000 residents of Edinburgh aged 16 to 24 were unemployed – 36% of the total number of people unemployed in the city
  • In May 2012, there were 2,845 Jobseekers Allowance claimants aged under 24 in Edinburgh – 24% of all claimants
  • Of the 3,423 pupils, who left publicly- funded schools in 2011, 423 – almost 12% – were unemployed nine months later.

So what is the City of Edinburgh Council doing to address this problem and secure a future for our young people?

When Chief Executive Sue Bruce (above) took over as Chief Executive in 2011, one statistic struck her more than any other. She said: “Of the thirty two local authorities in Scotland, Edinburgh was sitting at 32nd for providing positive destinations for its school leavers from publicly funded schools.”

“Scotland’s Capital city was at the bottom of the list when it came to getting its young people into a job, a training course or higher education. That trend had to be tackled, it had to be arrested and reversed.

“It was clear that the problem would not be solved either quickly or by the council working alone. To create an environment where school leavers would have opportunity to realise and fulfil their potential, every sector of the city would need to come together with one purpose, to galvanise business and change the landscape for the better forever.”

The result was the Edinburgh Guarantee, created to drive a cultural change that recognizes the creativity and energy that young people can bring to business, dispel the negative perceptions and unite the public, private and third sectors to achieve a common goal – A positive destination for every school leaver.

On 8 December last year a call went out to city businesses and organisations across all sectors to provide jobs, paid work experience, training or continued education for every school leaver in Edinburgh.

The call was made at a breakfast debate which brought together 120 individuals from Edinburgh businesses and organisations to discuss the ongoing issue of youth unemployment in Edinburgh and to encourage participation in the development and delivery of the Edinburgh Guarantee.

Under the Guarantee, Edinburgh City Council has committed to ensuring that “…all teenagers will have the chance to leave school with a job, work placement or apprenticeship secured in order to drive down youth unemployment to zero”.

What is the Council doing?

As a lead partner in the Edinburgh Guarantee, and as the city’s largest single employer, the Council has fully committed to taking positive action to increase the number of opportunities that it offers to young people and to provide additional targeted support to maximise their take up.

In 2011/12 it created:

  • 50 new apprenticeships in the Council using existing Modern Apprentice Framework
  • 80 new training places in the Council offering support and work experience for young people assessed as not job ready
  • 50 opportunities with Council contractors through the use of community benefit clauses

How are businesses encouraged to participate?

The Council will provide support to other employers who join the Edinburgh Guarantee through the services of a dedicated Economic Development Business Liaison Officer. (pam.peters@edinburgh.gov.uk)

The types of support available include:

  • Marketing of opportunities
  • Briefing of young people’s support agencies
  • Pre-screening of applicants
  • Practical support for young person’s transition into work eg bus passes, food vouchers etc
  • In work support for vulnerable young people
  • Training for staff to be coaches/mentors for young people
  • Sign posting to potential funding sources
  • Sharing success and best practice

Facts’n’ Figures update:

Since it’s inception in 2011

  • more than 100 businesses and organisations have joined the Edinburgh Guarantee
  • over 400 additional opportunities have been generated
  • 50 new apprentice posts have been created within City of Edinburgh Council

What does that mean for young people in North Edinburgh? Will this initiative benefit them or pass them by?

From the progress being made it certainly looks like North Edinburgh is benefitting greatly from the initiative and employers are delighted at the choice of talent in the area.

The success of local initiatives has been noticed further afield – so much so that earlier this year Craigroyston Community High School had a very high profile visitor when HRH Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay joined a number of business leaders on a ‘Seeing is believing’ visit.

As part of the visit, two local business leaders talked about their experiences of taking part in a paired reading programme every Thursday to support the school’s literacy programme.

The Duke heard all about the Employability Course – a course that offers pupils in S4 the chance to develop their skills, make the most of work experience opportunities and business mentoring.

Muirhouse Youth Development Group demonstrated how, having become a Social Enterprise, they ran a Bike Project in the school.

Scottish Champions of the ‘Formula 1 in Schools’ programme demonstrated their winning car and explained how business support had been crucial to their success.

Prince Charles visited each of these projects, and commended the links that the school and business leaders had established. He encouraged business leaders to increase their engagement with schools, and encouraged everyone to continue working towards positive destinations for all leavers.

Edinburgh’s Telford College – Junior College

“There are a huge number of young people who could excel in certain areas of employment if they were made aware of them and given access and opportunity to pursue them.“ says Principle Miles Dibsdall OBE (pictured above). Here at our Junior College students are presented with a range of courses to help them chose a route to further education or employment. The College works together with Children and Families and Economic Development teams at the Council to ensure that course planning is linked to both senior phased in secondary school and employment opportunities being created in the city.

“By understanding the areas of work in need of employees and reflecting this need in the qualifications we provide we have a good chance of making this (the Guarantee) a reality.” added Miles.

Other contributing local initiatives include Barnardo’s Works Edinburgh based close to Granton Square. The established team is about to embark on a fourth successive year delivering employment programmes across the city.

Participants of the programme go through a tailored induction to develop their employability skills before moving on to a placement with an employer whilst still able to claim benefits. Placements give the young people opportunity to demonstrate what they can bring to a business while the employer benefits from dedicated support throughout the placement period.

Employers can be part of this success – contact helen.brown@barnardos.org.uk

Facts’n’Figures: So far 40% of young people going through the Barnardo’s programme are now in independent employment across a range of sectors.

Ann Confrey

 

Community Renewal – ready and able to help

With the closure of the popular Community Employability Office on Ferry Road Drive, it is good to know that there is still a locally based support service ready and able to help residents of North Edinburgh find and make the most of available job, training, education or volunteering opportunities and to assist with a range of health and welfare issues (writes Ann Confrey). 

Since 2003 Community Renewal, a not for profit organisation, has been working to transform communities by engaging and supporting people to get involved in community activity and to improve health, learning and employment.

In 2008 Community Renewal extended it’s reach to include Edinburgh, opening offices to embark on area focused projects initially in Muirhouse and latterly Craigmillar.

Community Renewal staff work with unemployed people including those who may have significant barriers to accessing opportunities, with their overall aim to break through these barriers to reduce unemployment and health inequalities.

Through an open ended listening process people are supported to identify where they would like to make a change in their own lives and in their community and encouraged to take positive steps towards this.

James Riordan, Team Leader at the Muirhouse project explains how the team work: “At each Community Renewal Centre the door is always open and people can drop in for a chat and cup of tea. The biggest barrier people face to improving their lives can be lack of confidence so it is important to create an environment that is friendly and safe.

“We take a people first approach to help deal with a range of issues and, most importantly, to gain the trust of the people we come into contact with. Once we have gained the trust of an individual we learn about the real or perceived barriers that they need support to overcome. We build on the initial trust step by step until we are able to discuss and develop a personal plan that focuses on improving the individuals’ personal health and economic activity.

“We also look to tackle some of the environmental and social problems that contribute to stress, ill-health and low morale in the neighbourhood. This is part of Community Renewal’s holistic approach to breaking the cycle of decline”.

The UK and Scottish Governments have produced numerous programmes and spent many billions of pounds aimed at local regeneration, encouraging people into work and improving health. There is recognition that to be sustainable, neighbourhood regeneration cannot just be about bricks and mortar but must address employment and social issues in tandem. Otherwise the cycle of decline is not broken.

Despite this, figures collated in 2010 show that Scotland has more people in receipt of out-of-work-benefits than the average for Great Britain and that two-fifths of all working-age claimants of out-of-work disability benefits are under the age of 45.

In Scotland alone there are around 20,000 young people aged 16-19 not in work, education or training. In some housing estates and inner city areas only 1 in every 2 adults is economically active.

Figures from ONS population survey Oct 2010 – Sept 2011 show that in the Edinburgh North and Leith Parliamentary Constituency alone there are 12,800 economically inactive people. 9,460 are of working age and claiming benefits of some kind and of these 4,700 people over the age of 16 are registered unemployed.

Yet the same source (2008 figures) cites that there were 96,200 jobs on offer in the area. 66,000 of these were full time positions offering an attractive average pay of  £512.00 per week.

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/wpca/1929380436/report.aspx#tabwab

What is clear is that many residents of North Edinburgh and Leith are not easily accessing suitable jobs when they become available.

This is where Community Renewal can make a difference. They understand that people who are unemployed and particularly those who may find themselves long term economically inactive or who have a range of health or family difficulties do not always find it easy to motivate themselves to make positive changes in their lives.

The team take steps to understand what is really holding people back and what their real motivators for personal change are before encouraging and supporting them to take positive steps forward.

‘Partnership’ is today’s buzz-word in service delivery. But Community Renewal believes that the real challenge is in making this work at the grass roots level.

“All too often people find themselves referred from one agency to another completing endless forms and providing the same information over and over again until they end up confused, demoralised and eventually become lost in the system.

“Community Renewal aims to widen the range of services working effectively together for the benefit of the individual and the community as a whole. From housing departments, schools and colleges to NHS initiatives – we try to provide a simple and seamless process with one point of contact.

“We take the time to learn about the needs of the person and support them through the various services that can help – even bringing the service to them if necessary” adds James.

Next time you are in the area, don’t pass by, call in for a cup of tea and a friendly chat – it could mark the start of a whole new you!!

Success

The results speak for themselves, with over 3000 people involved with the projects finding jobs, over 1000 moving into training, education or volunteering and around another 1000 others taking active measures to improve their health and wellbeing.

Contact Community Renewal:

From pilot schemes supported by Glasgow City Council and European funding Community Renewal now has 50 staff plus a host of volunteers making a difference in communities across Scotland.

See how your local team can help you make a difference at:

Edinburgh – Muirhouse

(North Hub), Unit 13, 11 Pennywell Court

Muirhouse Shopping Centre, Edinburgh EH4 4TZ

Telephone 0131 332 8773

muirhouse@communityrenewal.org.uk

http://www.communityrenewal.org.uk

 

Ann Confrey