Community Renewal Fund
Conwy Employment Hub was the lead on a successful bid to the UK Community Renewal Fund (CRF) to fund five projects under Skills and Employability totalling £270,000.
As a direct result of this success, we were able to start adding to our current employability programmes with projects which were available to all residents in Conwy:
Confidently You
A person centred, holistic, strengths based pre-employment support project for people who require additional support prior to enrolling on community based employability programmes. Confidently You focuses on reducing social isolation, building resilience and increasing confidence/self-esteem. It will improve both physical and mental health through accessing outdoor team building activities alongside additional activities and one to one mentoring support. The course will also help develop soft, practical, financial, digital and employability skills, alongside volunteering placements and the gaining of new qualifications.
Therapeutic Counselling
Short-term work-focussed counselling and/or coaching to support people to overcome mental health barriers to employment. Run by RCS, this fills a gap in the current provision at a time of heightened need, offering a counselling programme specifically targeted at people who are unemployed, or whose employment is at risk because of a mental health condition.
Mental Health Recovery College
Developing the Recovery College concept to evaluate the impact on individuals’ mental health/wellness, employability, community cohesion and social prescribing. The College will be an overarching body; learners will be enrolled and supported to identify their goals, plan their personal development and access learning opportunities. The College Charter will include a commitment to a recovery focused, compassionate approach.
Pathway Courses
A range of pathway and development training courses incorporating sector specific accredited qualifications, employability skills and work placements in growth and priority sectors in Conwy including health and social care, construction (including women in construction), recycling, reuse, security and tourism, hospitality and leisure.
Library Community Recovery Hubs
A feasibility study with a number of work packages in order to identify and pilot an implementation model based on local research and good practice across the UK. This will include identifying potential service providers, looking at examples of good practice and producing terms of reference for establishing a multi-agency Digital Inclusion group to coordinate digital participation within the community. It will also cover identifying digital barriers and approaches to tackle digital inclusion locally which will culminate in running a pilot project at Llanrwst Library to test the proposed Community Hubs and the Recovery College models.
The CRF project started at the end of January 2022 and runs until the end of December 2022.