St Helens Chamber - Jobs & Training - Recruitment Initiatives

Recruitment Initiatives

A key objective for the Chamber is to ensure that people who are at a particular disadvantage in the labour market get full access to employment, training and educational opportunities. The local campaign to increase recruitment of St Helens residents, particularly the unemployed, to input data from the 2001 census, resulted in 52 residents successfully gaining jobs at the Centre in Widnes.

Building on the successful Census project, we reached agreement with Somerfield [who opened a major new distribution centre in St Helens early in 2003, employing a total workforce of approximately 1200 people] to run a similar localised recruitment campaign targeted at unemployed people. This project provides support to residents, aiming to give them the best possible chance of gaining employment.

Jobs for Local People - Working with St Helens Companies
The Chamber is responsible for co-ordinating the St Helens Local Labour Market Partnership, which brings together a host of partners to secure inward investment opportunities and design programmes that will assist those people who are at a particular disadvantage in the labour market to get full access to employment, training and education opportunities. To date the Chamber has successfully carried out recruitment and training packages for ICL (the company responsible for the data inputting of the 2001 Census) and Morrisons retail store. In order to fill identified job vacancies, the Chamber worked alongside these employers and training providers and ran a series of pre-recruitment open days, followed by customised training to help unemployed people make the transition back into work.

Intermediate Labour Market Development (ILM)
St Helens Chamber is leading a consortium of key local agencies to deliver intermediate labour market activities, which will help both unemployed people to return to work whilst at the same time providing useful community services.

It is well known that the longer you are out of work, the more difficult it is to get a job. Often people lose confidence in their own abilities or their skills have become outdated, all of which can contribute to them remaining unemployed.

The Chamber is breaking down this vicious circle by creating, with its partners, a hundred temporary paid jobs. Apart from providing much needed work experience for unemployed people, our projects will provide additional and enhanced services to the local community. Each individual will also receive training, counselling and help in getting a job at the end of their employment.

We will be especially looking to provide useful work opportunities in the following priority areas over the next year:

Construction
Childcare
Environmental Enhancement
Crime and Community Safety
Care of the Elderly

Construction Initiatives
St Helens will see unprecedented levels of housing refurbishment during the coming years. A ballot of council tenants has led to the transfer of ownership of the Council’s housing stock to a new independent social landlord, Helena Housing. This is in addition to the already high levels of new construction activity as a result of the growth in, for example, new retail parks in the town centre, as well as a wide range of new regeneration activity.

The Chamber, with its partners, is keen to ensure that such initiatives and the employment spin-offs that they create generate maximum opportunities for St Helens companies and individuals.

As a result we have promoted a number of interconnected initiatives including a Construction Intermediate Labour Market which employs St Helens residents who were previously unemployed. In this way, previously unemployed participants can get the necessary experience and appropriate training that they need in order to apply for jobs with companies delivering housing refurbishment contracts for Helena Housing Association.

The Construction Intermediate Labour Market model (ILM), funded by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and the European Social Fund, provides paid employment for up to 12 months, renovating void properties. The quality of work is inspected and approved by Helena Housing prior to being let to new tenants. The range of work carried out on the properties enables previously unemployed clients to develop a wide range of skills which are useful to local employers. Work placements are arranged with local companies, including those delivering housing refurbishment contracts for Helena Housing with a view to the clients becoming employed by that company. This has proved to be a successful route to long-term employment, with 80% moving into long-term employment after spending an average of 7 months on the ILM.

Some of the ILM employees will previously have gained some initial skills by first being on the New Deal for young people construction project. Young people on this project provide valuable help in improving community facilities and carry out work which would otherwise not be done and which benefits both the environment and the community. Examples of their work include the conversion of an old shop into a centre for the local tenants and residents association, as well as painting and decorating charity shops or flagging outside church premises.

Childcare and elderly care
Young Womens Christian Association and Derwent Road play group provide excellent examples of childcare opportunities provided for those interested in supporting children’s physical development needs.
For those wishing to work with older people, Age Concern at the Mansion House offers them the chance to assist care staff in delivering a range of day-care services and opportunities including painting, music and games.
All of the opportunities are waged, using ESF funding, and relevant training is given as is help and support in finding permanent employment.

Retail
Retail placements are offered in a variety of charity shops throughout the town, all of which give experience in working with customers, displaying goods and dealing with money. Future, the furniture recycling business, also offers experience in the workshop as well as on the shop floor or in the office.

Horticulture and conservation
Paid employment opportunities also exist in amenity horticulture or conservation work, working with the park rangers or parks maintenance teams. Specific training is provided in areas such as pesticide use or health and safety. For those who prefer a more office based route there is the opportunity to gain experience in areas such as waste or energy management, environmental promotion and general administration.

Business Administration / ICT
New Deal clients are matched with office based opportunities which are most appropriate for their skills level. A range of opportunities are available, from working in community centres to housing associations. All opportunities are waged and relevant ICT and other training is provided.

This is funded by