Employment Links double award

Some of the award winning team from Employment Links

Rochdale Council’s Employment Links Team won two accolades at the recent Greater Manchester Skills for Employment Awards, at a ceremony organised by the Growth Company.

The Employment Links Partnership helps get unemployed people in the borough ready for work by providing free support for job hunters and companies looking for staff, including access to training and interview preparation.

Among the work singled out for praise at the ceremony was a project to help get women into logistics.

Statistics released earlier this year by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills showed that less than a quarter of the 1.5m people working in the logistics industry in the UK are women.

To help tackle this in Rochdale, a borough with a large logistics sector, Employment Links worked with local training provider Mantra, to deliver the crucial level one warehouse training course part-time, to fit around things like the school run, and provided transport to and from the training centre. Over 60% of those trained through the initiative have already secured a job.

Another scheme which was highlighted by the judges is a project designed to help tackle social isolation and improve English and communication skills within the borough’s Asian community. The majority of participants involved in the scheme, which was delivered through children’s centres and schools, are now undertaking formal qualifications to improve their English language skills.

The second award was won by Jill Simpson, an adviser at Employment Links, for contribution of the year, which highlighted several of her achievements, including the women into logistics project and her work across children’s centres. Val Careswell, also an Employment Links adviser, was also shortlisted in the ‘Contribution of the Year’ category.

Councillor Peter Williams, Cabinet member for Skills and Employment at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Employment Links does fantastic work across the borough. The work the team does makes a really positive difference to the lives of our residents and their families and I am proud that the impact they make each and every day has been recognised in this way. The team at Employment Links, along with people who have worked with them to get into work, should be really proud of themselves.”