Connecting Choices Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire

Background

The Connecting Choices ESF-funded project, starting in April 2017, aims to provide holistic support for disadvantaged people who are not in work within Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under- Lyme, and Staffordshire Moorlands. It is targeted in areas with high levels of multiple deprivation as well as more rural communities. Our target areas are:

 Stoke-on-Trent: Abbey Hulton and Townsend, Baddeley Milton & Norton, Bentilee & Ubberley, Blurton West & Newstead, Bradeley & Chell Heath, Burslem Central, Etruria and Hanley, Fenton West and Mount Pleasant, Little Chell and Stanfield, Meir North, Tunstall  Newcastle-under-Lyme: Chesterton, Cross Health, Holditch, Silverdale & Parksite, Town  Staffordshire Moorlands: Biddulph East, Cheadle (rural access issues), Leek North

The project will work with 1,784 unemployed and economically inactive people who are at most risk of social exclusion to help them progress into training, education, volunteering and work. There is a specific focus on people:

 with health, mental health or learning difficulties;  recovering from substance misuse problems;  who are resident in large social housing schemes;  who are carers;  who are NEET (young people not in education, employment or training – with a specific focus on older or long-term NEETs);  with low skills or qualifications;  from ethnic minority groups.

Our project aims to:

 Improve social inclusion  Improve employability skills to enable people to take up employment  Improve the take up of vocational learning including apprenticeships  Increase levels of work experience and volunteering  Improve confidence and self-esteem  Improve levels of digital engagement to access services and employment opportunities  Improve financial capacity and money management skills  Improve access to childcare

Our Delivery Partners

Ixion are working with delivery partners and specialist organisations to deliver a personalised coaching service along with specialist support to address barriers such as housing, learning difficulties, offending background etc. This includes:

V4 Page 1 of 3  Bac O’Conner Centre  Groundwork West Midlands  JET - Stoke-on-Trent City Council  Langley House Trust  PM Training (Aspire Group)  RE:SOURCE  Royal Association for Deaf people  Royal Mencap Society  SOVA  YMCA North Staffordshire  Your Housing Group (Moorlands)

We will also work in partnership with existing service providers and programmes to join up different services e.g. health and social care teams, training providers, and support the approach to co-operative working in the region to avoid duplicating services.

Our Service Proposal

All participants will be assigned a Personal Coach who will offer an intensive, holistic service to meet their individual needs through minimum fortnightly community-based coaching, support and review sessions, local group/project and online activities.

The following activities will be available based on the individual needs of participants:

 Coaching: problem solving, decision-making, coping strategies and health condition management; resilience; employability skills; careers guidance to develop realistic job goals; CV creation/tailoring; employer expectations.  Training: communication, employability skills, workplace behaviours; access to accredited training to address skills gaps including Basic Skills, ESOL; discretionary budget for certificated training/development activity not available elsewhere to raise aspiration.  Digital skills sessions and workshops offered to all participants from hardest-to-help groups including NEETs, 50+, ethnic minority groups.  Jobsearch: skills development 1:1/group workshops including peer supported Work Clubs; proactive job-matching.  Personal development: health & wellbeing 1:1/group sessions, including community sports, cycling/walking projects, substance misuse interventions.  Financial inclusion workshops and webinars: understanding/accessing credit; Better Off Calculation to ascertain viable hours/earnings and Universal Credit conditionality thresholds; gambling/debt advice; money management; access to support via National Debtline, Money Advice Service and local partners.  Self-employment: IAG via Ixion’s Develop/Grow Your Enterprise programmes.  Signposting/advocacy with existing services e.g. health, housing; use of our Childcare Database; making/attending appointments e.g. for substance misuse support, with joint working to boost confidence and engagement with local services.  Specialist support: specialist partners Langley House Trust (ex-offenders), Royal Association for Deaf People (hearing impairments), Genius Within (neuro-differences and chronic conditions), RE:SOURCE (people recovering from substance misuse) provide specialist support and interventions to breakdown most complex needs

V4 Page 2 of 3  Volunteering and work placements: to build skills including tasters to inform career guidance and supported placements with volunteer mentors, tailored to meet participant needs e.g. people with disabilities, ESOL needs, women.  Into-work transition: action planning and three months’ practical support to promote sustainability including childcare.

Your Views

Ixion are seeking the views of local people, potential project participants and community groups to assess whether our proposal appears to address the needs of project participants are likely to face, whether there are local issues and needs that aren’t met through this proposal, and general views on how you feel we should be delivering this programme to make a difference to the lives of people in Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire.

Things to Consider

Feel free to make any comments about this brief overview, which we will take into consideration as we develop our final proposal. We have listed some ideas of the type of feedback you may wish to provide below, but all feedback is welcomed.

Consider:

 whether our geographical coverage identifies the areas of greatest need – if you feel other areas should be added please include statistics or other data to evidence this need.

 whether there are any particular groups of people you feel meet the project criteria that have not been identified above.

 any key activities or services missing from our proposal that would help our target groups.

 whether your feel this project is different from existing programmes, and if not your suggestions for how we should change it to make it different.

 steps we should be taking to make sure local people know about the project and feel able to participate.

 any local projects you are aware of that have been successful in delivering a similar service, or that we could learn lessons from.

Ixion also want local people to be involved in developing and running the project - if you have any practical ideas on how local people and participants should be invited to contribute to this project please let us know.

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