Aiming to bring Future Jobs Fund to Plymouth
A number of voluntary and community sector organisations have joined together with Plymouth Employment & Skills Board and Wolseley Trust as lead organisation for the bid to develop employment and training opportunities for unemployed people in Plymouth.
Funding is being sought from the Future Jobs Fund to support the creation of work opportunities for long-term unemployed young people (those aged 19 – 24 who have been unemployed for 12 months). A successful bid to the Fund will enable the Plymouth Futures Company to offer employment to such young people, together with appropriate training support and personal mentoring throughout the programme. The employment will be for 6 months, and will include a contract of employment for 25 hours per week, during which the young person may be required to attend relevant training opportunities. Salaries and all employment responsibilities will be undertaken by Plymouth Futures Company.
The requirements of the scheme are that all work activities shall contribute to the community benefit, and be within VCS or public sector organisations. A proportion of the work activities may relate to the green economy.
Plymouth Futures partners which include Plymouth Guild, Routeways and Millfields Trust are seeking to identify placement opportunities in supportive organisations. Placement providers will have an opportunity to meet and approve potential candidates who, if selected, will work within the provided opportunity for the six months of employment. This will be at no cost to the placement provider. Personal mentoring and support will be available to the young person from appropriate partner organisations.
If the funding application is successful the company will be looking for suitable placement opportunities from November 2009 until March 2011 (first placements commencing November 2009 and final placements commencing October 2010).
For more information please contact Graham Morris, Project Director – Employment and Skills Board GrahamMorris@springwater.fsnet.co.uk
Organisations wishing to offer placement opportunities please download and complete the proforma and return to Graham Morris.
Future Jobs Fund
The Fund was announced in Budget 2009 and the money is to be spent between October 2009 and March 2011. As the Future Jobs Fund is a challenge fund, not all organisations that submit bids will be successful. The fund is run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in partnership with the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and with input from Jobcentre Plus Regional Government Offices in England and Devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales.
The Fund aims to create 150,000 additional jobs, primarily aimed at 18-24 year olds who have been out of work for nearly a year to deliver real benefits to communities. The Future Jobs Fund is a part of the Young Person’s Guarantee. From early 2010, everyone in between the ages of 18 and 24 who has been looking for work for a year will get an offer of a job, work experience, or training lasting at least 6 months. We are specifically targeting 50,000 jobs in unemployment hotspots and expect around 10,000 of the 150,000 jobs created to be green jobs.