North Moseley re-employment project - update 20th Sept 2007

Below is the update from the North Moseley re-employment project. Since last time, contact has been made with Hamza mosque and Woodstock Road girls school is now going to be used for a jobs fair during the October half-term


20th September 2007



Street Advisors Employment Project Update Report

Enterprising Communities: Kings Heath and Moseley Ward

Background

Resources
After a July and August with team members of extended leave we are back to a full staff compliment of four part time and 2 full time Advisors. The progress in this report should be taken in the context that we were half staffed for almost 2 months.

Our ability to utilise the information we collect to the best possible benefit has however been increased by the addition in March of a bespoke Skills and Employment Database from Hanlon Skills Software, which has been fully operational since the middle of May. This software allows us to capture a detailed picture of clients’ aspirations, experiences and skills as well as our interventions with them. It also allows us to run searches on the vacancies our Employment Link Officers have been capturing from local businesses (over 250 the date of the report).

Activity

Client support
Each Advisor now has a case load of over 125 active clients across the Enterprising Communities area. All of our team members have at least three Moseley and Kings Heath clients although the majority of the 123 clients engaged with are managed by Marianne Salmons, Sahra Mahamud, Roshan Singh and Liaqat Iqbal. As part of our management systems we have coded clients as Red, Amber or Green as a way to ensure we are signposting and supporting them appropriately.

Green: a client who is ready for employment: They have an up- to-date CV, have discussed job aspirations and are equipped with support to be notified of suitable vacancies to which they can apply themselves or be supported to do so.

Amber: a client who needs some support in up-skilling or who needs their confidence building and support building up a better awareness of the job market they wish to follow.

Red: a client who is some way from being job ready who are in need of basic skills support, most likely ESOL and communication needs are high. A client who is unlikely to have worked in the UK at all or who has been out of the labour market for a considerable time due to ill health or caring responsibilities.

Of the 123 clients for Kings Heath and Moseley the following are currently classified as:

3rd July 2007
2nd August 2007
20th September 2007
Green:- 23
Amber:-34
Red:- 44
Green:- 35
Amber:-45
Red:- 34

Green:- 39
Amber:-46
Red:- 38

101
114
123

This caseload has improved over the last three months and demonstrates the work that has been done by the team to bring their clients into a situation where they are job ready. This has mainly been done by hosting CV and Job search workshops and by spending time with individual clients building their confidence and experience base.

Outreach work

18th July 2007 – Jobs Fair at Moseley Community Development Trust.
This was a well attended session to which 35 people attended, 23 from the Moseley and Kings Heath Ward. Results for the Community Apprenticeships for clients in Moseley and Kings Heath can be seen at the end of the report.


9th August 2007 - Health and Social Care Event – Beittec Small Heath.
This was the first of a number of tailored events which we are running until December 2007 as part of the funding we have secured from the Central Thematic NRF fund. To respond to the requests from clients who wanted to find out more about working and training in the Care Sector. Exhibitors included Building Heath, Care UK, Somali Care Agency – Horizons, My Time, BVSC – Volunteering Project and ACTIVATE. Information and guidance was also on hand from Street Advisors to sign-post people to further Education courses. We advertised extensively though our partner organisations and to residents in North Moseley, Sparkhill, Sparkhill and Small Heath. In total the morning event attracted 31 attendees from across the South Birmingham area, including 4 from North Moseley. The feedback from attendees and Exhibitors were extremely positive and so far we have 5 people into jobs, 1 person into volunteering and 2 people enrolled onto NVQ level 2 courses as a result of the event.

We are in the process of writing a Plain English Guide to Working in the Health and Social Sector to give out to clients and other employment projects. We will be translating main sections into Urdu, Somali and French and running a print according to demand from the community.

Future Events

Graduate Fair at the Muath Trust on 24th October 2007
This event is aimed at recent and soon to be graduates and will include graduate employers from Birmingham and the West Midlands as well as National Employers from the Retail, Banking, Intelligence, IT, Accountancy, Armed Services and Engineering Sector. We also hope to have Exhibitors as CARA and Path WM attending who can provide support for Refugee Academics.

Raising Awareness and Community Links
New marketing materials have been printed and are bow being distributed across the ward. During July and August they have been personally distributed by Advisors to:

Balsall Heath library

Balsall Heath Post Office

Moseley Post Office

Moseley CDT

Hamza Mosque

Subway

Muslim Students House (Moseley Rd)

Sage Food Store

New Agents St Marys Row

Mojams

Unique Tech Church Rd

Post Office Church Rd


Community and Inter Agency Links

Hamza Mosque and Islamic Centre 88-90 Church Road Moseley
A meeting facilitated by Muna Masood, Ward Support Officer for Hall Green Constituency took place on the 15th August 2007 to discuss engagement with the Mosque and immediate community in North Moseley. Mohammed Talib from Sparkhill Cultural Centre who is a member of the Hamza Mosque agreed that Saifer Reiman from the Mosque Committee and a colleague from the Youth Service would both be excellent initial contacts for the Community. He has recently been in talks with both of his colleagues and we have arranged a meeting to take place in the middle of October 2007. It is hoped that an initial event/consultation will happen at Woodstock Girls School which is linked to the Mosque in October half term where local residents are invited to come along to chat informally to Street Advisors who will be supported by the Mosque Committee and other community workers. Types of employment, barriers to finding work and the most appropriate forms and delivery of support will be explored at the event. From this a response will be specifically for the needs of the people in this area.


Kings Heath Job Centre
As many clients in the ward will be under Kings Heath (Institute Road) Job Centre we have given staff there our details and made links with the Lone Parents Advisor there. We are supporting three existing female clients from the streets at the bottom of Trafalgar Rd who are experiencing a certain level of stress in terms of the new obligations around claiming benefits and looking for work. Marianne and Sahra have held two 3 hours sessions at SBC College Womens Academy in Balsall Heath on 27th July to provide some time with these ladies to build their confidence and job search skills.



Profile for Kings Heath and Moseley as of 20th September 2007


Table 1 Gender of Clients in Kings Heath and Moseley Ward

Gender
Numbers
%
Female
44
36%
Male
79
64%
Total
123
100%

Table 2 Ethnicity of clients in Kings Heath and Moseley Ward

Ethnicity (from client)
Numbers
%
White (British and Other)
13
10
Black African
30
24
Black Caribbean
7
5
Indian
4
2
Pakistani
28
23
Kashmiri
8
7
Asian (British and Other)
6
5
Dual Heritage
15
13
Refused
12
11
Total
123
100%


Table 3 Outputs as of 20th September 2007 in Kings Heath and Moseley Ward


Target 2006/2007
Achieved 31st March 2007
Achieved 3rd July 2007
Achieved 2nd August 2007
Achieved 20th September 2007
People Engaged
100
77
101
114
123
Customised Training or Education
40
7
15
21
24
Full Time, Part Time and Self Employment
30
12
14
19
22
Referrals and Other Activity
0
19
42
52
56


Table 4 Community Apprenticeships progress for clients in Kings Heath and Moseley Ward

Community Apprenticeships
20th September 2007
Community Apprenticeships application requests
28
Community Apprenticeship application forms completed
16
Clients shortlisted so far
12
Community Apprenticeships
Outcomes
1: Successful Enterprising Communities Administrator
(To start October 07)

4: Waiting for Interview

7: Unsuccessful

4: Withdrew Application




Additional Profile Information

Lone parents (with children under the age of 16 years)
20th September 2007
Male

1
Female
11


Clients who state they have a disability
20th September 2997
Male

12
Female
4

Case Study A (Moseley and Kings Heath Client)

RH is male and aged 46 from Albania. RH made a self-referral by phoning up the office to make an appointment. He had picked up an Enterprising Communities leaflet from a local business in Moseley. An Advisor arranged to meet RH at the Afro British Association offices in Sparkbrook to meet with him and register in April 2007.

The client was unemployed at that time having lived in the UK for 5 years and only being able to pick up casual work. The client previously worked as a Plumber before moving to the U.K, but had no certificates or experience in employment in this country. The client asked for support with researching and applying for jobs in and around the field of plumbing.

As well as job searches, a number of practical training courses were sourced. One of these courses was a 5 day Plumbing course with Training 4 Skills. RH was assisted in completing an application for the course and was accompanied to register with the organisation in Erdington.

Outcome

RH completed the course successfully and has now applied to Building Health to complete his CSCS course to allow him to work officially on Building sites. A Street Advisor is in touch with him every two weeks to chart his progress and will support him to apply for jobs as soon as his CSCS registration is completed.

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Case Study B (Moseley and Kings Heath Client)


HM is female and aged 43. HM accessed the Street Advisors drop in services in Kings Heath library in April 2007 after seeing a leaflet advertising the service during a visit to the library with her children.

HM is a single parent with 3 children under the age of 11 years old. She has been out of work for 12 years due to her caring responsibilities. HM’s previous experience was as a Manager with the Benefits agency. Being out of work for so long had left HM lacking confidence in her skills and abilities and this was evident in the meetings with our Street Advisor.

The client was looking for something similar to the work she was doing before her career break, but something that could fit in with daily caring commitments.




Outcome

HM was referred to Pertemps Lone Parents project in Sparkhill, which worked very well for her. She completed the course and said it helped her to get out of the house and build her confidence. It has also helped her with her personal development in terms of motivation. She now feels better about herself and would now like to enroll on another course or placement in a public sector organisation through ACTIVATE to update her skills and confidence before looking for a suitable job.