Written evidence submitted
by Scout Enterprises (Western) Ltd
SUMMARY
1. Our partnership consists of 15 small to medium
sized voluntary sector organisations who were not in a position
to bid individually for a contract. Scout Enterprises designed
a model for delivery whereby we employ all young people, but they
work in our partners' organisations. We are responsible for all
their employment needs, such as Induction, Personal Development
and training, plus personal support and jobsearch. We also manage
the majority of the administration and payroll.
2. This method of delivery frees up the partner
organisation to get the most from the FJF so that they can offer
more support and job training to the young people in their workplace.
It has proved an efficient design with a central referral office,
allowing a prompt service to both partners and JCP.
3. Our experience of the FJF so far has been
very positive. Scout Enterprises has been delivering work focused
programmes for over 20 years and to date this is one of the most
effective and satisfying to run. It is providing young people
with a real job, for most their first. It is motivating young
people to seriously seek further employment rather than go back
to a benefit existence. It is not work experience or a "benefit
plus". It makes a huge difference.
4. The partners involved are also benefiting.
In times when funding is scarce, the extra staff and skills the
young people are bringing to the workplace are helping to build
the capacity of the organisations.
5. The following is feedback from a selection
of our partners who wished to contribute.
6. Name: Maria Damsell, Upper Horfield Community
Trust (UHCT) Eden Grove Methodist Church, Eden Grove, Horfield,
Bristol, BS7 0PQ.
7. The Future Jobs Fund programme has had a really
positive and beneficial effect on our charity here in Upper Horfield.
We are a small charity that provides a wealth of activities and
projects for a disadvantaged community within the Upper Horfield
area of Bristol. The programme has helped us:
- Increase capacity to develop our programmes and
activities.
- Supported the ability for us to become a little
bit more sustainable by adding to our staff capacity.
- Allowed the local community to feel they have
supported young people to nurture skills and develop young people
within their community.
8. It has helped the young people who have received
jobs to:
- Increase their skills for work and access relevant
training.
- One young person went on to secure an apprenticeship.
- 2 of the young people have been employed by our
organisation once their FJF job was complete.
- Given young people the opportunity to show what
they are good at and to begin to understand what it is like to
work within a busy and supportive environment(especially prevalent
for those who have never had a job).
- Allowed the young people to gain an insight into
"Big Society" work within a local community centre where
the message is to give something back to your community and how
important that is.
9. Overall the project in our opinion has been
very successful and supported our organisation to develop and
sustain at a time when local community centres are imperative
to give vulnerable communities support to improve quality of life
and well-being in an increasingly unsettled economic climate.
10. Lee Mills, General Manager, The Helicopter
Museum
Registered Charity Number 281053
11. "Since starting in our cafe a month
ago our Future Jobs Employee, Tracey has made a really positive
impact in the running of the department. Her confidence has come
on leaps and bounds and she is well liked by both volunteers and
customers alike. Thanks to her help our cafe has had the busiest
season on record and therefore generated much needed extra income
for our museum / charity. This is in no small part to Tracey's
contribution and her hard work and commitment is to be praised
and applauded. By building her confidence and through gaining
valued experience working through extremely busy shifts with a
conscientious work ethic, I am certain that she would have no
difficulty in finding employment in a similar role. She has proven
to be a great asset and a worthy ambassador for the future jobs
programme"
12. Pieter Van Der Watt, Castle Quarry Activity
Centre.
13. Good news was the employment of Kyle Worgan.
FJF gave him the opportunity to be employed as an activity instructor
for six months, during this time he proved to be an exemplary
employee. We are pleased that he has helped so much that we were
able to raise funds and employ him after the FJF job had finished.
All other instructors that joined us during the contract term
wanted to continue working for us and did not want to go back
on benefits. They all benefited from the working environment they
were put in and ended their contracts as a more mature and responsible
people looking forward to joining the work force as soon as possible
with the experience they have gained.
14. Julie Hathaway, Director, National Development
Department & South West Region KIDS
15. Whilst we have not been part of the programme
for long and therefore cannot provide a case study, what I would
say is that Future Jobs Fund could be part of a wider initiative
that enabled young disabled people to try out work opportunities
without affecting their benefits - many young disabled people
face discriminatory barriers to employment on two fronts:
- Employers feel it is too expensive to employ
them.
- They will lose their benefits and go into low
paid work.
16. Future jobs fund could provide an opportunity
for both the employee and employer to test out the opportunity
using access to work funding for any specific equipment/support
required to ensure the young person could access their job on
similar terms to their non-disabled colleagues - we believe this
is a genuine opportunity to try out employment in an area of interest
and could "mainstream" the supported employment opportunities
available through organisations such as Remploy
17. Geoff Alsopp, Adult Education Manager
, Amana Education Trust.
18. With regard to the Future Jobs Fund initiative
19. Amana engaged with the Future Jobs Fund through
our agents, Scouts Enterprise, some 6 months ago, and since then
we have had every reason to celebrate the success of this scheme
and hope that the new government will share our view that there
are no losers in this initiative.
20. The winners can be counted as follows:
- The individuals who gain valuable work experience.
As a result of their employment with us, they may well be motivated
to seek other (similar?) employment when their six-month term
comes to an end or seek training to further career prospects.
- We, the employer who have benefited from workers
who otherwise we would not have been able to afford. They have
provided a much-needed service for Amana - a small charity which
normally depends on volunteers.
- The community. As a result of these extra staff
we have been able to provide services to other community groups
and individuals.
6 September 2010
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