A Community Health Project delivered by a consortium of experienced voluntary sector partners led by NHS Bradford and Airedale. The project uses innovative and creative methods to provide basic skills, accredited learning, work placements and links to community health employment for people from BME communities and outlying estates experiencing long-term unemployment.
This is an innovative project which will use creative techniques to work with individuals disengaged from employment to help develop the soft and basic skills required to access community health employment opportunities offered by NHS Bradford & Airedale, other major health services in the District and community agencies delivering local health services. It has been endorsed by the Chief Executive of NHS Bradford & Airedale and the District’s Health & Wellbeing Partnership in recognition of the existing disconnection between employment opportunities in the District’s large health sector and people from BME communities and those living in outlying estates. Brining together people from BME communities and outlying estates will provide increased opportunities for trainees contributing to cohesion and providing a chance for trainees to begin to move about the District, something which is known to be a barrier for many people in this District to accessing employment.
The project has been developed by a consortium of voluntary and community sector agencies led by NHS Bradford & Airedale. It combines tailored local delivery with central co-ordination and support. The combined approach ensures that local opportunities are flexible in response to local need and circumstance and the co-ordination aspect offers central support ensuring that local lead partners have resource and time to deliver effective local programmes. The training will be delivered by local providers, in Manningham this is Action for Business Ltd (ABL) and Manningham Mills Community and Sports Association (MMCSA). The local delivery of this project, whilst flexible according to local need and opportunity, will comprise of 3 phases, trainees progressing from phase 1 to as far through the programme as they wish are able at any particular time to leave the programme and rejoin. It is envisaged that some trainees may start one programme, leave after the induction phase to develop a particular skill - e.g. basic literacy, numeracy or language skills - and then join another local programme delivered later in the projects life. A total of 12 local programmes will be delivered by local lead partners during the life of the project. Each local lead is responsible for recruiting an average of 12 trainees locally, targeting people who are furthest from the job market. Each programme will run for between 10 and 14 weeks. Each local lead partner has been supported by NHS Bradford & Airedale and the partners in the consortium to develop schemes that best suit their circumstance;
During the two years of the project ABL and MMCSA will recruit a minimum of 72 people onto the training courses, of which many will progress on to employment, further training or volunteering.
