Programmes
The Northumberland Employment Partnership is delivered via the Northumberland County Council Employability and Inclusion team. The Team also work with other Council services, including Northumberland Skills and Business Northumberland, partner organisations and funders to develop and deliver a range of employment and skills programmes. These may be for those moving into work, retaining a job or progressing in work, improving their skills, changing jobs or returning to the labour market.
By working with a variety of delivery partners in the voluntary, community, public and private sectors, our programmes can offer support to meet a wide range of needs.
A short description of current programmes follows, and to discuss these or the wider work of the team please contact employabilityandinclusion@northumberland.gov.uk
Northumberland Inclusive Economy Community Partnership (NIECP)
The Northumberland Inclusive Economy Community Partnership oversees a fund of £1.5 million, secured by Northumberland County Council to support the work of the voluntary and community sector in the South East of the county.
This project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) with the North East Combined Authority (North East CA) as the lead authority. NCC provides the administrative support and acts as the Lead Accountable Body.
The focus of the funding is to support:
• impactful volunteering and social action projects to develop social and human capital in local places and
• investment in capacity building and infrastructure support for local civil society and community groups.
What is the partnership?
Stakeholders from the sector form the partnership and use their understanding of the communities they work in to identify needs in the context of the Inclusive Economy and work with community-level organisations to develop proposals for delivery.
Research and insights support from Centre for Thriving Places and New Economic Foundation will offer the partnership a potent opportunity to use on-the-ground knowledge and trends to inform and influence its wider work.
How does it work?
The fund is for local organisations in the VCS to enable them to build capacity and offer impactful volunteering opportunities to residents who are economically inactive to address inequalities and deliver Inclusive Economy ambitions. A funding panel of six partnership members used its diverse knowledge of the communities in the area to best focus the funding.
Grant funding was allocated to a diverse range of 30 projects, with grants of between £5,000 and £100,000. The projects are across the wards of Amble, Ashington Central, Bedlington Central, Bedlington East, College, Cowpen, Croft, Hirst, Isabella, Kitty Brewster, Lynemouth, Newbiggin Central and East, Newsham, Plessey, Seaton with Newbiggin West, Sleekburn, Stakeford, and Wensleydale.
Contact
Adam Gray, VCS Employability and Communities Lead
Email: adam.gray@northumberland.gov.uk
Mobile: 07814075196
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Support for Ukrainian Residents
Northumberland County Council supports refugees and asylum seekers resident in the County in a number of ways. As part of that support, the Employability and Inclusion Team has an Employment Partnership Coordinator to work with providers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in order to make sure it works best for learners and helps them progress toward work or other training.
The Coordinator works closely with ESOL providers and employment support programmes including Northumberland Skills/AEB, the Refugee Employment Programme, Northumberland College, STEP Ukraine, Action Foundation and VCS community delivery providers to ensure referrals are made in the best interests of learners.
The Employment Partnership Coordinator collaborates with NCC, Advance, DWP and other partners to foster links into new talent pools, job opportunities and further employment and training support to increase skills levels, economic activity and social integration.
The Coordinator also can give dedicated one to one support to people resident in the County who are from Ukraine to help them settle and move into work. This includes help with retraining to progress into available jobs, careers advice and guidance, support to navigate job search and recruitment processes, and signposting to other services.
For more information contact Iryna Zhomer, Employment Partnership Coordinator, on Iryna.Zhomer@northumberland.gov.uk or 07598060528
Координатор з питань працевлаштування українців Нортумберленду,Ірина Жомер, допоможе та поінформує про можливості у відповідній сфері кар’єрного вдосконалення, навчання та розвитку.
За додатковою інформацією звертайтесь Iryna.Zhomer@northumberland.gov.uk 07598060528
In-work Support
The Employability and Inclusion Team is leading the In Work Support project to better understand the challenges faced by businesses with retention and progression of their staff and to deliver solutions to address them.
What is it?
By working directly with businesses, the project is diagnosing issues and jointly finding solutions through technical experts. Improving the retention of staff and their progression in the workplace can improve productivity and help deliver a more inclusive economy.
Who else is involved?
The project is being delivered in partnership, with Northumberland County Council working with: · North Tyneside Council – Regeneration | North Tyneside Council · Northumberland Business Services Limited NBSL In Work Support · SME Centre of Excellence In Work Support (IWS) | SME CofE
More Information
For more information contact:
Michael Harriott michael.harriott@businessnorthumberland.co.uk 07890 052738
Kevin Higgins kevin.higgins@northumberland.gov.uk 07786 020787
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