Training
Providing Conwy residents with the skills to find work or change career remains a crucial element of the Hub’s support. As well as running industry specific courses, we also provide training that is tailored to our participants’ needs. For some this could be attending a training course to enable them to work in a new sector, or for others it could focus on upskilling them to ensure they have the skills required for today’s employers’ needs, and therefore the variety of course topics we offer is wide-ranging.
During the year, we ran 33 training courses for participants with topics ranging from:
• Employability Sessions which cover CV writing, job applications and interview techniques
• Start Up Programme for those wanting to become self employed
• CSCS course for upskilling those that want to work in the construction industry
• Welsh Language course
• Social Care
• SIA Door Supervisor
• CCTV• Tourism and Hospitality
• Construction• Digital Literacy
• HGV• COSHH and Level 2 in Cleaning
• Social Media
• Introduction to the Beauty Industry
• Barista Taster Session
• How to become an Influencer
Invaluable support and help was also offered to Ukrainian refugees on a weekly basis at the No 20 Community Drop-In in Colwyn Bay. This included helping them compile their CV and importantly highlighting their transferable skills to demonstrate that they were work ready and suitable for job roles in a variety of industries. We also enlisted the help of Adult Learning Wales to provide conversational English sessions. All this support was vital and played a pivotal role in helping them settle in the UK and secure work.
The Hub’s Training Co-ordinator completed the Level 2 Community Food and Nutrition Skills course to be able to deliver Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s Eat Smart Save Better programme to community and Hub participant groups. As the number of people frequently needing and visiting Food Banks grows, these one-hour sessions have been invaluable in helping people make healthy choices, learn how to use store cupboard staple ingredients while providing tips for saving money when food shopping or visiting a Food Bank.
In September 2023, the Hub learnt that it had been successful in securing £292,510 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for a Pathways to Employment project to deliver vital sector specific training to all Conwy residents aged 16+. As the funding is only valid until the end of November 2024, we hit the ground running and in the short time period till the end of the financial year, we registered 282 Conwy residents and ran 26 courses.
As well as training our participants, upskilling our staff is also key to ensure that they can meet the needs of supporting unemployed people with complex barriers. Our Employment Mentors attended the Institute of Employability Professionals (IEP) Mentoring for Employability course. This is a certified mentoring programme which aims to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours that underpin good practices and ensure high levels of quality standards when working with participants who require greater levels of support to find, achieve and sustain work. It covered the theories and frameworks of mentoring, structuring mentoring conversations, recognising the balance between listening and offering advice, building trusting relationships, promoting growth and positive change and the differences between coaching and mentoring techniques and when to use each. And everyone in the team has also undertaken a Mental Health First Aid Course for Adults and if their job role involves working with Youths, then they have also undertaken the same course specifically for that age range.