This programme utilises key skills for employees of Pearl Training Academy CIC (hereafter referred to as PA) and our partner, YMCA North Staffs, to mentor young vulnerable adults in Stoke-on-Trent, with developing their own skills for future employment. This includes weekly onsite “open” sessions (up to a maximum of 10 Young Vulnerable Adults – YVAs) to support and train them on such things as confidence boosting; interview techniques; basic CV writing and submitting job applications. There is also dedicated, targeted support for up to 7 YVA’s to mentor onsite once per week to develop and enhance core skills in business operations, including marketing and design, technology; basic accounting; and HR.
We ensure that we have a skilled, motivated and diverse workforce of young people. It strategically supports the priority to improve education and skills development that leads to better employment chances. The project supports the enhancement of vocational skills in line with the needs of employers to ensure skills and experience matches demand.
By providing a route into employment through a supportive and collaborative network we enable young people to have the best chance to fulfil their potential. This helps people to progress into sustainable and meaningful employment. Furthermore, we support a longer term vision by supporting the most vulnerable families and young people, resulting in a reduction in financial hardship.
We strategically support the priority to improve education and skills development that leads to better employment chances and support the enhancement of vocational skills in line with the needs of employers to ensure skills and experience matches demand.
The innovation within our project comes from the strength and breadth of the partnership that is in place. Our project is unique throughout the whole region, as over the years we’ve established a successful network and collaborative partnership with organisations like ourselves with a proven track record of delivering in these areas within the BAME groups, though not exclusively, who are sometimes described as hard to reach.
We don’t just primarily serve one culture as most centres do. We welcome everyone, all cultures, ethnicities and social backgrounds, equally. We’ve delivered hundreds of courses over the last ten years, with over 1,500 participants. We’ve secured and renovated bespoke facilities over the last year to accommodate the project, and recruited all the relevant personnel with specialist skills to support it.
Currently we have access to 2x marketing professionals; 1x design specific specialist; 1x finance specialist; 1x HR specialist and 2x basic business operations. Each of the mentors spends 1 day a week mentoring “vulnerable young adults” onsite at one of our bases in Stoke-on-Trent.
For the first 3 months, the mentee learns basic core objectives of their chosen area, then they spend another 3 months focusing on a particular branch of that area. After the objectives have been met, where feasible, we look to offer employment for mentees, who themselves could in turn potentially become mentors.
These individuals are also able to utilise our unique/bespoke employability and personal development project, which combines coaching with gaming and entertainment. The programme is tailored around each individual, to offer support, such as confidence, teamwork, communication, managing expectations, and sportsmanship.
We have employment opportunities in many of the sectors we work with, such as creative digital media and software development, games, apps, construction, trades, hair and beauty, mechanics, hospitality, and retail.
We support participants over a number of sessions, a combination of group sessions delivered face-to-face and 1-to-1s done face-to-face, online, or via phone (depending on each candidate’s preferences and availability). Modules we cover:
- Vocational profiling
- Personal branding
- Financial education
- Health & wellbeing
- Entrepreneurship
- Transitional & Soft Skills
- Feedback and going onto work opportunities
Win-Win Mentoring represents diversity and celebrates inclusivity. We have successfully targeted “hard to reach” Black, Asian minority ethnic (BAME) young people, though not exclusively, working in partnership with Care and Education Group CIC who originally began in the Midlands, with support from various statutory bodies, including the police and the Crime Commissioners community fund, as there was a recognition that unfortunately this target group constitutes a large portion of young people who are in danger of being perpetrators or victims of crime. The mentoring scheme ensured that these young people engaged with positive role models and were given direction and clarity for their lives.
During the pilot Covid struck and so the project had to migrate to a virtual platform. It soon became oversubscribed with a waiting list and definite positive transformation occurring with the mentees.
We are also very flexible in our approach and so if one of our learners is unable to attend face-to-face sessions, for example, we accommodate that and meet online or arrange a phone call. Our goal is to support people on their education, training, and employment journey and so we go out of our way to ensure that we give them options that suit them instead of letting them go.
Through innovative partnership working, a shared referral and assessment centre and collective evaluation frameworks we ensure we are maximising the short and long term impacts for the beneficiaries. This approach enables us to better tailor services to need and identify the best, streamlined route for young people rather than being pointed in multiple different directions.
Our specific support provides the opportunity to gain basic skills, general advice, guidance and wider support in employment related skills. We create economic opportunities that young people and our communities will benefit from as, due to the nature of our partnership, we have contacts across the whole region and at various points around the country.
The beneficiaries of this project are young vulnerable adults aged between 16 and 24 in Staffordshire and the West Midlands who are facing multiple challenges such as Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEETS), Special Education Needs (SEN), long-term unemployment, on the verge of exclusion, and hard-to-reach. The project also targets Black and minority ethnic young people, but not exclusively, who have been disproportionately affected by underachieving in the education system, which has been compounded by the recent pandemic, and have limited access to opportunities.
We empower young people by providing them with support, guidance, and training to overcome the barriers they face. For those who want to start their own businesses, we also provide the necessary support, facilities and guidance to enable them to succeed. We understand that youth unemployment is a complex issue and single services alone cannot address all of the challenges. A collaborative approach allows us to bring the skill, resources and innovation of partners to ensure that young people have the opportunity to thrive. The wider community also benefits due to several organisations working together, sharing resources and knowledge, and able to signpost to other resources or facilities where necessary, building a network of contacts into a more stable, cohesive group.
We aim to:
- develop our learners’ transitional skills in confidence, communication, leadership,
teamwork, and time management - support learners into further development opportunities such as training, work experience,
apprenticeships, and jobs - identify multiple career paths and motivate learners to pursue work in an industry they are
passionate about - improve access to workplace/experience and job opportunities
- increase digital literacy and inclusion by helping learners become familiar with email
communication, online personal branding via LinkedIn, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint.
We also work with everyone in the young person’s life including job coaches, parents, siblings, or friends and observe them in different environments.