TRAINING COURSE HELPS REGENERATE THE CITY
A group of Sheffield people will be helping to regenerate their local communities after successfully completing a training course run by a partnership of the Centre For Full Employment (CFFE) and the Coventry-based community development agency, Adept.
The ‘Community Regeneration Worker’ project was a year-long practical course designed to provide local people who had experienced past barriers to employment, with essential skills, knowledge and experience to work in the regeneration sector.
The initiative aims to complement and develop the vast amount of regeneration happening in Sheffield, both current and planned, by providing a pool of skilled workers, who are able to work to improve their local communities as well as contribute to the major regeneration efforts taking place across the city.
The project also aimed to enhance the career opportunities of the trainees by enabling them to gain a recognised qualification through the Open College Network (OCN), as well as expanding the labour market for local employers working to regenerate the area.
As part of the course, each trainee attended a four-day work placement with a local voluntary sector organisation, and spent a further one day a week studying a nine-module course on Working in Community Organisations (WICO) facilitated by Adept’s trainers.
One trainee who attended the course said: “It is a brilliant way to get people with low confidence or on benefits into employment, giving them a chance to show their potential.”
The project also helped to develop the supervisory and management skills within the voluntary organisations hosting the trainee’s placements.
Doug Low, Chief Executive of the Centre For Full Employment said: “Regeneration is a long-term process which calls for a sustained, and practical approach.
“This project will provide positive benefits for the trainees, voluntary sector organisations, employers and local communities by developing and enhancing much needed skills and experience for working within the regeneration sector.
“Congratulations to all those who successfully completed the Community Regeneration Worker Project, we wish them the very best of luck in their future careers, as they all have very much to offer their local communities.”
