Skills Support

Skills Support for Redundancy is a Government in initiative to provide help to those people  threatened by redundancy or who have been unemployed for less than 6 months.

 Skills Support for the Unemployed provides help for the medium term unemployed (up to  a year) who are on active benefits (JSA or ESA).

 To be eligible you need to be 18+.

Initial referrals for North Devon should be made to Sara in Barnstaple (Monday to Thursday inclusive) on 01271 410300. For Exeter call 01392 422450, Taunton 01823 476250 or Torquay 01803 897151.

Induction sessions are run on a regular basis followed by one day Job Search Seminars. Clients also have one-to-one sessions with an experienced advisor who will then act as the client’s mentor. A comprehensive individual action plan will  be produced which will include details of any training needs, job hunting resources, etc.

(In North Devon the client will then be referred to the appropriate Pathfinder Centre to be used as a local base for job hunting and/or training.)

Regular reviews of progress will be undertaken by the client’s mentor, who will also be available for on-going support.

Support includes, CV writing, job searching, application forms (paper and on-line), interview techniques and preparation, Internet access, on-going mentoring and a range of vocational training courses available including;

ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) leading to a Level 1 or Level 2 Certificate in IT User Skills (ITQ)

Numeracy & Literacy Level 1 and 2 with full tutor support

Myguide On-Line Basics– Internet & E-mail Training and Free E-mail Accounts, On-Line Job Search Training, etc.

Level 2 Food Hygiene

Construction Site Certification Scheme (CSCS)

Principles of Care

First Aid at Work

NVQs in Business and Administration, Health and Social Care, Customer Service.
(Must be working or have a volunteer placement carrying out work related to the chosen NVQ)

There are a wide variety of Learndirect courses available. Information about these can be found at  http://www2.learndirect-business.com/business-catalogue/ or at your local centre.

Other courses may be available from local Further Education colleges or other training organisations.