In February 2021, the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) intranet hosted a story focusing on the success of recent Movement to Work placements, encouraging more DWP colleagues to get involved. The full article, including quotes from recent participants, is below.

 

Virtual Movement to Work is “a fantastic opportunity”  

So says recent graduate Jessica, just one of many jobseekers to benefit from the innovative virtual work experience offered through a revamped Movement to Work Programme. 

Coronavirus has had a huge effect on every aspect of our lives. For those on work experience it has meant the end of their work placements, but thanks to colleagues in the Central Movement to Work team, working collaboratively with service delivery colleagues, a safe and secure Virtual Movement to Work framework has been successfully developed. This means customers can benefit from meaningful online work experience, which is already leading to permanent work.

“Last year, when traditional Movement to Work placements were paused due to the pandemic, we realised we needed to act quickly to deliver support to the young people who were relying on them”, says Tom Munn, the delivery lead for the Central Movement to Work team.

Helen Colley, a Community Outreach Work Coach at Birkenhead Jobcentre, takes up the story: “We put our heads together as a team and came up with a creative solution that was put together quickly – and it’s proved to be very successful. “Safety was of primary importance,” continues Helen, “and we knew we couldn’t bring customers into the office, so we developed an online work experience package, something that replicated as much as possible what it is like to work in DWP.” 

“I became inspired by the participants and their commitment.”

Tom was part of the team doing the initial testing, which took place in Merseyside and the West Midlands late last year. He says: “We tried to make every day varied and interesting for the participants, with guest speakers, one-to-one sessions and online learning. “At the start, I wasn’t sure how a virtual placement would work but very quickly I became inspired by the participants and their commitment. I could see the difference it was making to their confidence every day. I am so proud of everyone involved, especially our six participants.” The testing has proved incredibly successful, with five of the six participants going on to secure either Social Mobility Apprenticeships, Kickstart Placements, or permanent employment.

“I want to thank the team that made it happen.” 

Jessica Rendle-Barnes, a recent graduate, said: “The DWP virtual work experience has been so helpful with increasing my confidence and building skills I never thought I’d need in a working environment. It was a fantastic opportunity and I want to thank the team that made it happen!”

Joe Nolan, who has recently found work with the Post Office, said: “The programme helped me gain a better understanding of working in DWP and gave me the knowledge I needed to get back to work.” 

Scott Keegan, currently on a social mobility apprenticeship, said: “I found the experience extremely informative and useful for my future career path. The support during and after the programme is excellent, with a person-centred approach throughout.”

The ‘Skills for Jobs’ White Paper sets out planned reforms of post-16 technical education and training. The aim of these reforms is to invest in higher-level technical qualifications that provide a valuable alternative to a university degree, and put “employers at the heart” of this system, ensuring that qualifications and skills are focused on what employers want/need.

These reforms include:

• • Incorporating business groups alongside colleges to develop tailored skill plans to meet local training needs (supported by a £65 million Strategic Development Fund);
  • Ensuring employers play a central role in designing technical courses, to ensure these courses are directly linked to the real life skills needed for real jobs;
  • Boosting the uptake and quality of Higher Technical Qualifications;
  • Change the law to allow people to access flexible student finance to train and retain throughout their lives, supported by funding.

The full White Paper can be found here.

As part of Barnardo’s on-going response to the Coronavirus pandemic, and in partnership with Vodafone, The Great British Tech Appeal calls on the UK public and businesses to donate unwanted smartphones and tablets. Vodafone will cover postage and repackaging, add six months free unlimited data connectivity and – via Barnardo’s – redistribute the devices to disadvantaged children and families. This follows a successful summer appeal that helped almost 2,500 people across the UK.

To find out more, and to donate to the appeal, visit the Tech Appeal website here.

Join the Police in a series of virtual recruitment events in January and February 2021 to encourage individuals from under-represented groups to consider policing careers. The Police are committed to increasing diversity within the police service, and would love the chance to provide an insight into working in the Police. Each session will involve a number of speakers, discussing their experiences of joining the police service, the reasons why they joined and how the service has supported them.

There are a variety of discovery sessions coming up, each aimed at addressing specific diverse groups. Follow the links below to sign up for the events:

• 26th January: Disability and neurodiversity 
• 28th January: Religion and belief 
• 2nd February: LGBTQ+ 

BT and the BBC have partnered in order to remove mobile data charges for BBC Bitesize educational content. As part of BT’s wider wider Lockdown Learning programme, all customers across BT networks will have free, unlimited access to Bitesize content by the end of January, while schools remain closed. 

Marc Allera, CEO of BT Group’s Consumer division and Movement to Work Steering Group member said: “We want to ensure that no child is left behind in their education as a result of this pandemic, and recognise that we all have a role we can play to help families and carers continue their children’s education while schools are closed.”

For more information, see here.

During 2020, over 560,000 devices were delivered to schools and councils. Combined with the 440,000 devices purchased for delivery in 2021, a total of one million devices will reach schools, colleges and councils to help ensure students have access to high-quality remote education. This total makes the programme one of the largest of its kind in the world.

As part of the ‘Get Help with Technology’ scheme, schools, councils and private providers will be able  to access devices, internet access and support available to provide remote education and access to social care during COVID-19.

The Careers & Enterprise Company needs your help! Do you know someone who is devoted to driving great careers guidance for young people? What about an organisation that has been steadfast in helping young people during the pandemic? Or do you know a brilliant young person who themselves has focussed on enhancing their own potential through careers education?   

The person you’d like to recognise could be a Careers Leader – their Head or Principal – an employer; perhaps an Enterprise Adviser or Cornerstone Employer, a school or college student, a careers support programme, or professional careers adviser. Tell us about them via our landing page: https://careers-champions.careersandenterprise.co.uk/

 

We would love to hear from you about individuals and organisations whose careers-focussed work has made a positive difference to the lives of young people as well as your stories of brilliant young people who have enhanced their own potential by taking advantage of career-related opportunities.  We would also really appreciate you sharing this information with your Enterprise Advisers and Careers Leaders. We will be holding open the web page for submissions til 31^st January.

 

We will then highlight a number of the recognitions you and your networks have submitted to us directly on our social media channels during National Careers Week (1^st March) and will work with you to provide templates for you to also highlight your recognitions via social media during that week. However, in the hope that we will have more people and organisations to mention than we can collectively fit into our social media campaigns that week, we intend to continue to regularly recognise those people and organisations you’ve highlighted in the subsequent weeks.  

 

If you have any questions or queries please contact careerschampions@careersandenterprise.co.uk

 

Stand Out Skills is providing unmissable daily support to jobseekers for 28 days from 19^th January 2021.

BT Stand Out Skills has what jobseekers need for every stage of their search. It has ways to help you discover your potential, make you own luck, write job applications that can stand out from the crowd and advice on how to interview with confidence and stay resilient through it all.

Presenter Anita Rani, Comedian Iain Stirling and Drag Queen Divina Di Campo feature in the content including the campaign introduction which you can watch here.

To access BT’s free must-have tips, resources and advice to help you stand out in your job search visit  BT.com/StandOutSkills

#StandOutSkills #SkillsForTomorrow #Jobsearch #Jobhunt #Opportunities #BT

 How else is BT helping you get Work Ready?

Work Ready supports job seekers throughout the UK by boosting skills and confidence. We are currently offering a weekly series of practical, interactive webinars to help you get work ready at home so when the right chance comes along you will be ready to succeed https://www.bt.com/skillsfortomorrow/events.

We are also supporting FastFutures – a completely free programme we’ve created with other employer partners to help people become Work Ready – apply here for free: https://www.avadolearning.com/fastfutures/

Work Ready is part of BT Skills for Tomorrow which is helping 10 million people develop the skills they need to make the most of life in a digital world.  For more information including a range of online courses and upcoming events visit https://www.bt.com/skillsfortomorrow

500 young people will have the opportunity to work in an EFL Club or Club Community Organisation as part of the government’s Kickstart scheme.

Over 65 EFL Clubs have signed up to be involved, offering six-month work placement jobs roles to young people aged 16-24 who are claiming Universal Credit – with the aim to give young people the opportunity to build their skills in the workplace and to gain experience to improve their chances of finding long-term work. Vacancies at Clubs and their charitable arms will include business admin, sports coaches, marketing, ground staff, finance, youth work, graphic design, film & photography and HR and data administration rolesKickstart gives young people the opportunity they need to get their foot on the ladder and a foothold in the world of work.

Nationally, the scheme has already created more than 38,000 vacancies across the UK and received over 4,000 applications from employers. Tens of thousands more jobs are expected in the coming months.The scheme targets young people who have been hit especially hard by Coronavirus and Kickstart focuses on giving them the best possible chance of getting a job. Under the scheme, the EFL Trust, the charitable arm of the EFL will be acting as a Gateway provider, bringing together a network of Football Clubs, Community Organisations and other partners, to provide a wealth of opportunities across the country for the out-of-work youngsters. Over the past 3 weeks, the first Kickstarters to take roles within EFL Clubs have come into post. Maklin Doherty has joined Luton Town Football Club’s Community Trust as Marketing and Communications Assistant. After graduating with a 2:1 degree in Graphic and Communication Design from the University of Leeds in 2019, Maklin found it increasingly difficult to find opportunities during the pandemic and had to apply for Universal Credit. Macklin said:

What is Blue/ Brew Monday?

The third Monday in January, which is usually known as ‘Blue Monday’ will be turned to make this day into something positive by encouraging people to get together over a warming virtual cuppa. “Because now more than ever, sharing a cuppa is more than a drink – it’s about reaching out, checking in and staying connected”. Samaritans.

Diversity & Inclusion Expert Panel Speakers:

Dhavani Bishop – Head of Colleague Health, Wellbeing & Experience at Tesco

Roxane Caplan – Head of Service Development at YoungMinds

Simone Spray – Chief Executive at 42nd Street Charity

Laura Whitehurst – Host and Head Of Operations at The Prince’s Trust

On this January’s Brew Monday – Join us for a cuppa! To talk about how we can support youth mental health within the workplace.

The Prince’s Trust Talks: Brew Monday: Supporting Young People’s Mental Health at 11am-12pm on Monday 18^th January

 Eventbrite Link  to sign up: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-princes-trust-talks-brew-monday-youth-mental-health-tickets-126538156031