Welcome 1 Martin Conway Engagement and Participation Officer VoiCeS Northumberland [email protected] January 2017

The Bridge project is funded by The Big Lottery Fund and European Social Fund (ESF) as part of the Building Better Opportunities Programme. 2 What is the Bridge Project? • An employability support project • Help move individuals who are furthest from the labour market closer to employment • Support may include… • Help into paid employment • Access to training • Volunteering opportunities • Increase in confidence and mental wellbeing • Overcoming barriers 3 Continued… • Jointly funded by BIG Lottery and European Social Fund • Funded till August 2019 • A partnership of Public Sector and Voluntary Sector • Northumberland wide • Working with over 800 people • A holistic ‘needs- led’ model Principles… Values 4

Our Principles… Our Values… • Involvement • Authentic • Support • Effective • Planning • Supportive • Methods • Flexible • Working Together • Empowering • Sharing Information • Respectful • Working With Others • Improvement What Do We Want to Do? 5

• Move participants into employment • Move participants closer to the labour market • Change the nature of relationships with services, building trust, change the power differential between local people and local services • Support individuals to reach their full potential • Improve the quality of life for people and their families • Use our evidence, monitoring, evaluation and Peoples’ Experiences to shape and influence future Project delivery Five Pillars of Interventions 6 Financial Digital Inclusion Inclusion

Work Readiness

Peer Mentoring Supported and Support Volunteering 7 The Delivery Model

• Bridge Staff Team:  Operations Manager  Engagement and Participation Worker  Initially five Bridge Workers in post  Additional two specialist Bridge Workers • Core team based at VoiCeS in Amble • Bridge workers co located with Partners Berwick upon Tweed

Wooler

Alnwick

Rothbury Amble

Bellingham Ashington Morpeth Cramlington Blyth

Hexham Prudhoe Haltwhistle

Locality Bases for Bridge Workers Who is involved? 9

Northumbrian Partner Network CAB and Referrals

Northumberland CVA

Northumberland Voices Blyth Resource County Council Northumberland Initiative Centre

Escape Strategic Governance Group Cygnus Support The Roles of the Partners 10

www.northumbriancab.co.uk www.northumberland.gov.uk www.voices-northumberland.org.uk Bridge Worker host Project lead and Operational lead/ project accountable body delivery lead

Voices Voices Financial inclusion lead

ESF compliance and overall Management of Bridge County Council County project management CAB Northumbrian

Northumberland Northumberland Team: Core and co located Northumberland

www.escapefamilysupport.org.uk www.northumberlandcva.org.uk Bridge Worker host

Bridge Worker host Escape Peer mentoring/ Peer Supported Support Programme lead Volunteering lead www.cygnussupport.com

Northumberland CVA Northumberland www.bricblyth.org.uk Bridge Worker Host Bridge Worker host Confidence Building/

Cygnus Support Cygnus Personal Skills lead

Digital Inclusion lead

Blyth Resource Resource Blyth Initiative Centre Initiative 11

14 Ellie starts a volunteering role 13 19 Coaching Ellie & job readiness grows in coaching confidence

12 Ellie feels overwhelmed

6 7 Confirm Plan & 5 problems 4 goals Assessment & Getting to 3 drawn up carried out strengths know you Matched to Bridge Worker

2 Ellie is eligible 1 Referred to Bridge 12 Role of the Bridge Workers • Designated support to beneficiaries • Coordinate the support needs of beneficiaries • Act as an advocate/ champion/ advisor/ mentor • Act as a single point of contact for the person • Set actions and goals WITH people, NOT FOR people • Embedded with Partners across Northumberland:  Ashington, Berwick, Blyth, Hexham, Morpeth Participant Eligibility 13

• The participant has the legal right to work in the UK • The participant is without work • The participant is available for work and actively seeking work.

(To be eligible for support, the participant must not be in paid employment of any kind. This means an individual with a part-time job or a zero hour contract is ineligible even if they are in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance.) 14 Project Outcomes

• Increase in the resilience and confidence of participants • Increase in the engagement by delivery Partners in communities • Improved integration and joined up provision by Voluntary Sector partners. • Maintaining the life changes of participants and their transition towards employability. Useful Resources 15 • ABCD Resources ABCD Institute

• ABCD Resources Nurture Development

• National Standards for Community Development SCDC

• Community Engagement Made Simple Northumberland CVA

• Participatory Appraisal Toolkit NESEP

• Community Work Skills Manual 2009 FCDL

• ‘From What’s Wrong to What’s Strong’ Cormac Russell

• FAQs Big Lottery Guide to European Funding