50 Forward Employment Initiative Lancaster District 50 Forward

50 Forward - Employment Initiative

Lancaster District 50 Forward

50 Forward Principles Within those principles, Lancaster District 50 Forward made a specific commitment to: • Actively involve older people in designing, developing and decision-making • Increase opportunities for older people to continue paid employment or volunteering • Provide low-level services at the time of need • Provide easier access to information about health, leisure, employment, personal care, benefits, personal safety, home maintenance, local transport and housing options.

Where we are now. Lancaster District 50 Forward has, • Established a Care Navigator service provide support for older people with low level needs. • Created a New Employment Bureau • Created a New Volunteer Bureau • Developed a Brand • Has achieved all targets to date • Developed strong partnership working.

Original Programme Model Access to Information Care Navigator Employment and Volunteer Service

Employment Why set up an Employment Bureau for Older People? Because that is what people over 50 in Lancaster asked for!

Employment Lancaster District 50 Forward was asked to create a new Employment and Volunteer bureau: • Support Individuals to become job ready • Seek out new employment and volunteering opportunities. • Work with Employers • Provide support into training opportunities • Support with New Business Start up • Aim to become commercial agency.

The Service • Offers 1 -2 -1 employment support to enable people to reach their employment goals. • Looks at the “whole” person and links into additional support from partners such as Care Navigator and Pension Service • Tailored service to meet individual need • Workshops – CV Preparation, Interview Technique, Mock Interviews, Job Search, etc • Active Marketing to Employers • Working with Partners to provide New Business Start Up support

Workshops The Employment Bureau runs a series of workshops including: • CV Preparation • Interview Techniques • Mock Interviews • Application Forms • Confident and Motivation Each workshop is plan, prepared and delivered by experienced qualified staff in a friendly, informal environment.

New Business Start Up • The team work closely with partners to provide Self Employment Support. • They also run network events to introduce clients to other partner organisations and business to help support business start up. • The office is available to clients to access computers and telephones in the early stages of starting their business. • To date the service has supported 13 people into Self Employment.

Employers • Offer a recruitment service for Employers – matching people with the right skills to the right vacancy. • We help prepare people to enter the work place and offer support when they start – therefore supporting employers through induction of new members of staff.

Events New Year, New Start campaign is designed to engage with new clients and introduce them to Employers in the district who have current employment vacancies. In addition, introducing them to supporting partners and explain the support the team can provide. Four Event have been planned in January and February. • 17 th January, The Borough, Lancaster – 5 pm-7 pm • 29 th January, The Platform, Morecambe – 12 pm-2 pm • 13 th February, The County Hotel, Carnforth – 5 pm-7 pm Working in Partnership with Victoria Institute – an event is planned in Caton to support people from the Lune Valley

So far…… 17 th January, The Borough, Lancaster • Over 75 people attended • 37 people registered with the Employment Service • 14 Employers and Partners attended 29 th January, The Platform, Morecambe • Over 85 people attended • 50 people registered with the Employment Service • 15 Employers and Partners attended. People travelled from Burnley, Barrow, Accrington, Lytham, Blackpool, Preston to attend the event.

Volunteer Bureau • Provides support to organisations looking for volunteers • Provide information and support to people interested in Volunteering. • Matching the right person to the right opportunity and vice versa. • Completing all necessary checks • Stepping stone into employment and support for Care Navigator Service.

Results – March 07 -Dec 07 Over 349 people have accesses the service to date Employment Agency – • No. of people registered -166 • No. of people placed into employment – 61 • No. of people into Self Employment – 13 Volunteer Bureau • • No. of people registered-123 No. of people placed- 57 (40 awaiting to complete checks) No. of Timebanks created – 2 No. of people registered with Timebanks-60 (not included above) (Please note that training outcomes have not been included)

Lessons Learnt……. so far. Employment and Volunteer Service – Diversity of clients - These range from long term unemployed people with multiple low level needs to currently employed couples wanting to change direction and life style. Have to overcome initial unease of other employment agencies Need for specialist employment service skills, and need to pay for training; Labour Market – The team are looking at a greater geographical area to find appropriate job vacancies and salaries. Volunteering Service – Unexpectedly high interest in Timebanks. Time lag for requesting CRB Check and references. Issues with Volunteers reluctance to submit details for the multiple checks/references. High turnover of Volunteer Placements as often people then move into Employment, or people have family commitments.

Good News Stories Mr X registered with us at an employment open day that we held in Lancaster in February. Having worked as a production operative for Storeys from 1988 until the closure of the business in December 2006 Mr X had very limited experience of applying for jobs. At 58 he felt somewhat out of his depth and he registered with 50 Forward in order to receive assistance with CV compilation, applications and interview techniques. He was an enthusiastic participant at a series of workshops at the Victoria Institute Caton which were run collaboratively between 50 Forward and the Trainer at the Institute. As a result of his efforts he was invited to a series of interviews and we were delighted when he was offered and accepted a position with Croppers paper mill in Kendal starting on 3 April. The following is a quote from his confirmation of employment form: “I would like to thank Anne Oliver and crew for the support and help they gave me (cv/letter writing and interview techniques) during my time of unemployment. . . All my advice came through 50 Forward. Keep up the good work. Thank you Anne”.

Good News Stories Mr Y had been employed with the same company for more than ten years before being made redundant; most of these were in a supervisory capacity. His management skills and experience are excellent, however, he had not attended an interview in all of this time and had limited experience of unemployment and the labour market. At 56 years old he didn’t know where to turn or from whom to seek advice. We spoke to Mr Y after the event giving him an appointment to meet with us at a venue of his choice. Mr Y chose his home, where he felt comfortable enough to voice any concerns about his weaknesses and to highlight his strengths. We listened to what he said, looked at how we could help and gave him choices. We assisted Mr Y with his CV looking at his individual talents and experiences building on his skills and strengths, boosting his moral and confidence. We enrolled him on workshops specialising in application form filling, speculative letters and approaches, job search, interview techniques, self-presentation, individual mock interviews and individually groomed/tailored him for specific vacancies. All the input and support of the 50 forward team along with Mr Y’s enthusiastic participation proved worthwhile, following successful interview Mr Y has secured a position as an Officer Support Grade with HM Prison Service.

Mr J, who at 73 is, to date, the oldest person to register with Lancaster District 50 Forward. He came to us for assistance having been made redundant. With a wealth of experience as an employment trainer and job broker he assisted the Employment Service and Volunteer Bureau at an employment open day on 31 January 2007. As a result of this voluntary work he found a part time temporary position in April with a partner organisation which supported our employment workshop programme. In May we helped Mr J to secure part time work with as a driver for a mobile crèche service and in July he joined Age Concern as Assistant Organiser of their Luncheon Clubs in Carnforth.

Useful Links Evaluation – http: //www. dwp. gov. uk/opportunity_age/linkage/ Age Concern Lancashire – www. ageconcernlancs. org. uk Lancaster City Council – www. lancaster. gov. uk Information - http: //www. lancaster 4 u. co. uk/company. php? company_id=234