Projects Being Funded

Balanced Futures supported people with mental health issues, who were in receipt of a Government Benefit and needed to overcome barriers to employment. Clients had a personal advisor offering individually tailored support, advice and guidance, working with them to develop a personal action plan and helping them find voluntary work placements or appropriate training.

Clients had access to the Resource Centre at Orange Street, St Pauls which gave support with all aspects of jobsearch including updating CV’s, interview techniques, filling out application forms and helping clients to make appropriate choices about future employment.

Based on Brunswick Square, St Pauls, Bridging the Gap provided individual support to 1,150 long-term unemployed people and unregistered jobseekers from disadvantaged wards in Bristol. Through targeted support and guidance, the project enabled job seekers to acquire the skills necessary to progress into employment. The project worked directly with employers and support agencies to break down discriminatory barriers, provide work placements, basic skills and vocational training.

Based in Brunswick Court, St Pauls, local employment support initiative Pathways to Work helped assist residents aged 25+ into sustainable employment. Support was offered through an established and effective partnership of providers offering information, advice and guidance, training, work-placements, basic skills and debt support. The range of support has been extended and adapted to meet the needs of the targeted area.

The project made a significant contribution to the equal opportunities theme by assisting the most disadvantaged members of the community including women, black and minority ethnic communities, disabled people and ex-offenders.

CEED provided accredited training and access to multimedia computers, alongside creative media production tools such as digital sound studios, portable digital sound recording equipment, digital video cameras, digital photography and imaging equipment etc. The project provided 10 week training courses that led to an Open College Network accreditation in:

• Multi-media (web-design and authoring)
• Radio production (digital editing, interviewing and programme making)
• Music technology (sequencing, sampling, synthesis, programming, pre/post production)
• Video production (digital editing, directing, lighting, camera and sound techniques)

Beneficiaries of the project, which is based on Wilder Street in St Pauls, learnt to interview, record, edit and produce media work. They used the Internet for research, peer support and on-line learning. They had supported access to distribution facilities for the publication of their work. The project addressed Stategic Objective 3 by increasing employment prospects through vocational training opportunities for young Black and minority ethnic people.

IT Works was a community run, open access computer training facility based in a well-equipped centre on Filwood Broadway. The project improved the confidence and the employability of Filwood residents by offering them both in-house ICT courses and access to learndirect. There was the opportunity to study for accredited qualifications which helped to satisfy the demand from local businesses for employees with basic IT skills.

The project provided facilities for people with physical disabilities, software and hardware adaptations and access to a range of learning support.

Silai for Skills was a black-led community organisation providing training and support services to women from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. The 'First Steps' project delivered accredited and basic skills training in creative textiles, ICT, basic skills, business enterprise and work related training. Although the Objective 2 funding of this project has now been completed, it continues to offer a first step into employment or education, for women who experience difficulty in accessing these opportunities.

Based in Silai's new Centre in Easton, the project offers on-site creche facilities and courses in a variety of languages. The Project addressed Strategic Objective 3 of the Action Plan to remove barriers to employment and training for disadvantaged groups.

The Beacon Centre was established by the City Academy in 2002 and provides a range of adult education courses, focusing on residents from the Community at Heart area i.e. in and around Barton Hill and South Redfield.

The project created progression routes for unemployed people, and those in low skilled/low paid jobs, to improve their opportunities to gain good quality employment and access further training and education. The project built on basic skills training already provided at the centre, in particular ESOL, as well as broadening its existing range of courses in response to local needs and demand. The centre particularly targeted individuals with low educational attainment and who face significant barriers to training and employment.

Existing part-time Information, Advice and Guidance support was made a full-time service available to all students. This included a programme of outreach work in the local community, focused on engaging with particularly hard to reach groups, and strategies to address specific barriers including childcare, language and translation, social and financial exclusion, and cultural/racial discrimination.

The Beacon Centre helped to improve the skills, knowledge and confidence level of local people and thus improve their access to employment and expand their opportunities to participate more fully in community and family life. The centre additionally provided a wide range of training courses with a particular focus on attracting individuals who are excluded from mainstream training providers, in particular black and other minority ethnic residents including refugees.

Bridging the Gap2 addressed the issues of long-term unemployment and serious labour market disadvantage within the local area.

Through its team of outreach Community Support Workers, this project provided intensive one-to-one support to long term unemployed people and unregistered job seekers in the Bristol area. This enabled them to progress into learning and employment. Working directly with support agencies this project provided work placements, basic skills and initial vocational training specifically tailored to each individual.

The project included working with Black and minority ethnic groups (In particular refugees), and lone parents/women returners, who were looking to move into higher skilled jobs after a period away from the labour market due to unemployment or family commitments.

This project reduced long-term unemployment, social exclusion, benefit dependency, built the confidence and aspirations of the long term unemployed and provided access to language support.

Circomedia2 provided an important new route into training and employment for young people experiencing multiple barriers to the labour market. It is unique new training facility in St Pauls that has transformed Portland Square Church. This project is a catalyst that can assist the wider regeneration of the area.

The Community Vehicle Project provided courses for two groups of five year 11 students (15 - 16yrs). Each group was helped to identify, purchase and renovate a vehicle to be gifted to a community organisation of their choice.

The programme lasted an academic year (33 weeks) during which time groups met once a week during term time for 2.5 hours plus six 4 hourly outdoor events. During the course, students learnt basic mechanics and practical skills, attended classroom sessions on a range of topics and made visits to the beneficiary organisation.

The project developed training and provision in areas where skills shortages have been identified in Bristol: customer services, IT and Childcare. It offered first steps learning activities with built in progression routes and capacity building courses such as volunteering, self-esteem, confidence building and personal development.

The project helped develop the potential of single parents, improve the social and economic situation of single parents, mentor single parents towards further education/employment, raise educational attainment levels of single parents, remove barriers to learning/employment for single parents, and support single parents into employment in partnership with other agencies.

This project employed three Outreach Workers, seconded to Job Centre Plus to work in the Working Communities Team.

The Outreach Workers worked with approximately 300 unemployed people over the duration of the project, particularly those from Black and minority ethnic groups and lone parents/returners to work, who are resident in the Objective 2 area of Bristol.

One in Four moved forward into sustainable employment or training, and thereby reduce unemployment in the target area. They specifically targetted those from within the priority group who have the potential to move into employment, following a period of one-to-one support, to move them away from benefit dependency and social exclusion.

They helped remove barriers to employment by directing beneficiaries to additional assistance, not currently available through mainstream employment support programmes (New Deal), by offering ‘into work’ support, intensive advice and guidance, language support and specialist support to recognise qualifications gained elsewhere.

This project provided support to enable incapacity benefit recipients to access employment.

This project offered a range of short ESOL courses and qualification programmes for residents within the designated boundaries of St Paul's, Easton, Lawrence Hill, Windmill Hill and Knowle West whose first language is not English. Each course ran for 2-3 weeks across a range of centres in the areas and helped not only to provide learning for disadvantaged communities but also to develop and implement a regional workforce in fields such as classroom teaching assistants, food hygiene and security guards.

This project delivered pre-entry and access to Entry level 1&2 ESOL skills for people who are social excluded and at risk of becoming isolated. The target beneficiaries were expected to move directly into employment with the added aid of work experience tasters and intensive jobsearch advice. The programme was delivered in community-based settings with own language tutors and interpreters on hand where required.