Firvale Community Hub (FCH) is an award-winning organisation committed to improving social equalities and inclusion for communities experiencing disenfranchisement and marginalisation in Sheffield. We empower groups and individuals to find their voice and take leadership roles, to influence and inform a more inclusive society, through targeted and deeply personalised education and confidence building based projects.
We are excited to start recruiting for our new Apprenticeship Connecting Programme. The programme is funded by Youth Futures Foundation, a national organisation which aims to transform the youth employment landscape, ensuring that young people from all backgrounds can access and keep good quality jobs.
Our programme will work with 20-30 young people from South Asian backgrounds and engage local employers to identify and understand the barriers they face in accessing quality local apprenticeships. We will simultaneously develop practical actions to bring about improved representation and system change.
We recognise that those young people we are seeking to engage have lived experience and have often been marginalised for a variety of reasons including socio-economic status, gender/gender identity, race and faith. Building fair representation in the apprenticeship workforce will be a stimulating, challenging and rewarding experience for the team of staff and partners.
The project will identify what works and understand the barriers contributing to the low uptake of apprenticeships among young people from minority ethnic backgrounds, particularly those from Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities. It will explore the opportunities available, and the potential barriers young people face in accessing these positions.
Team Roles:
* Project Manager of the Apprenticeship Connecting Programme
* Employment Engagement Co-ordinator
* Youth Voice Champions
* Apprenticeship buddies
The team will be employed by the three direct delivery partners – Firvale Community Hub, Vision 313 and Saalik Youth Project.
Wider partnership
The project already involves a considerable number of partners at local and national level. The staff team will be responsible for widening the partnership to create meaningful dialogue and working relationships with:
* Local universities and colleges
* Large scale employers and providers of apprenticeships, especially those at Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Park
* Employers with the potential to offer apprenticeships in Sheffield
* Local specialist youth organisations working with the South Asian communities.
The Employer Engagement Co-ordinator will work with employers and intermediaries to understand the current processes around apprenticeship recruitment and secure their engagement with the project. They will open pathways for young people of South Asian heritage to access apprenticeships and increase the supply of apprenticeships in Sheffield.
Hours/Pay/Terms:
The post is 30 hours per week at a gross annual salary of £26,660.
The contract will be for 18 months certain subject to a probationary period of 3 months. The contract will be extended if continuation funding becomes available.
The usual hours of work are within 9am-5.30pm Monday to Friday with occasional evening and weekend work. The specific days/times to be worked will be agreed by negotiation with the successful candidate.
The postholder will have free use of our wellbeing suite and access to our employee pension scheme.
Responsible to:
Project Manager of the Apprenticeship Connecting Programme.
Location:
The postholder will be based at Firvale Community Hub, 127 Page Hall Road, Sheffield, S4 8GU. This will be the primary location of work, with regular travel across Sheffield being routinely required.
Job Description:
Role specific duties
* Engage employers, intermediaries and others in meaningful research to explore ways of combating discrimination, skills gaps and demographic take up of apprenticeships.
* Improve employers’ awareness of support services available in Sheffield.
* Promote apprenticeships to employers as a solution to skills gaps.
* Instigate a discussion with employers on changing job requirements and working patterns to enable greater labour market access.
* Develop an employer engagement model for working with occupants of the Advanced Manufacturing Park.
* Establish and deliver a brokerage system to improve access to apprenticeships for young people of South Asian origin.
* Organise pre-application workshops for young people.
* Assist delivery partners to organise open days and job fairs and secure employer involvement in these events.
* Support other members the Youth Futures team to deliver an effective, ground breaking project.
* Assist delivery partners to deliver a full wrap around support service to the young people.
* Develop appropriate promotional materials including social media content.
* Identify potential partners to engage with the project.
* Assist with conducting research and sharing best practice with partners.
* Assist in the completion of business cases and funding applications for continuation and extension funding.
* Provide quarterly internal evaluation and monitoring reports.
* Undertake essential training and seek opportunities for personal development.
* Report any safeguarding concerns to keep people safe from harm.
* Ensure that all ethical, statutory and contractual obligations are discharged, notably maintaining confidentiality, securing data and treating people equitably with consideration and respect.
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