Conwy Employment Hub partners with TRAC to turn teenagers' lives around

Conwy Employment Hub partners with TRAC to turn teenagers' lives around

Conwy Employment Hub was asked by the TRAC project to help 15 teenagers from Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy turn their lives around with a bespoke training course that developed lifelong skills while providing a clear path to further training and employment.

The group of 15 were aged between 15 and 16 and while they had all been attending school, they weren’t engaging with lessons. When this came to the attention of Elliw Jones, the school’s TRAC well-being worker, she knew that an intervention was required to enable the group to acquire the skills they needed to be able to pursue their dream career.

Elliw takes up the story; “There is a misconception about school pupils who don’t attend their lessons, with many thinking that they’re lazy or up to no good but that couldn’t be further from the truth for this group of 15.  All of them are from rural communities and have an agricultural life so they are extremely hard working, up at 5am every morning to work on the farm before going to school, and as soon as school finished they were back to the farm to continue working. It was therefore important to find out the reason why they were skipping classes and it came down to the simple fact that working on a farm was a way of life and seen as more important than getting an education.”

Elliw knew that Conwy Employment Hub had secured funding through the UKSPF Conwy People and Skills Key Fund to run a Young People’s Engagement Employability Project so she got in touch with Lyndsay Edwards, the Hub’s Engagement Officer to see if they could work together on a programme that would provide the 15 teenagers with the skills and qualifications they needed.

Conwy Employment Hub partnered with WOW Training to provide the group with a tailored Construction course at Llanrwst Library.  This was a three-day intensive course giving the group an understanding of what it takes to work in the industry as well as taking tests in Asbestos Awareness, Ladder Safety, Working in Heights, Manual Handling, Health and Safety and the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS).  There was also the opportunity for those that were interested to take the tractor driving test.

Lyndsay Edwards commented: “When we put this course to the group, their response was overwhelming and all 15 were extremely keen to be enrolled, but there were ground rules and all 15 had to not only continue attending school but commit to attending classes, which I’m pleased to say they did.  The course was a resounding success and their enthusiasm to learn skills that they would use was a pleasure to see.  All 15 passed the necessary certificates and three of them went on to take and pass their tractor driving test, with another six who had to wait until they were 16 scheduled to take the test in the next month.”

At the end of the course, the group were taken to GYG Karting at Glan Y Gors Park, Cerrigydrudion, for a few laps of fun as well as some teambuilding challenges and learning about the business and the employment opportunities.   Ashley Davies, GYG Karting Director was particularly impressed with Dylan Cai Davies who showed a natural ability by winning every challenge coupled with a genuine interest to learn that he was offered a part-time job that would fit round his three days at college to study land-based engineering.

Elliw said; “The course had a profound impact on this group.  Not only did they attend the course and pass all the tests, but it was the driving force they needed to turn their lives around and consider their future.  13 of them have gone on to college to continue their studies and two have secured work which is a phenomenal outcome and I know that all the parents are extremely grateful to TRAC and Conwy Employment Hub for the opportunity given to their teenagers.”

Libby Duo, Strategic Manager for Conwy Employment Hub concluded; “This collaboration with TRAC shows how important it is to intervene when students aren’t engaged at school, and by offering them a training course that fits with their farm life and interests we’ve been able to offer them a training course that has not only inspired them but provided them with lifelong skills they can use now as well as in their future.  To have 13 students go from not attending lessons to enrolling at college and two in full time employment is a remarkable turnaround and I’d like to congratulate all 15 and wish them every continued success.”

Conwy Employment Hub is a community-driven “one stop shop” for employability dedicated to helping Conwy residents upskill, find employment, work experience and volunteer roles.  It runs the Welsh Government’s Communities for Work Plus (CfW+) employability programme and has secured additional funding from other streams to be able to support all Conwy residents aged 16+ find meaningful employment. 

Visit https://www.conwy.gov.uk/conwyemploymenthub for more on Conwy Employment Hub