Walsall Works Real Skills, Real Jobs,

Real Business.

Issue 1 Newsletter Walsall Works

Walsall works was launched in April

2012. A 2.1 million pound scheme

that will incentivise Walsall employ-

ers to create 550 apprenticeships

over the next 2 years for the young

people of Walsall.

The economic downturn has ef-

fected young people dispropor-

tionately and Walsall council

has acted by offering up to

£3000 for eligible em-

ployers to take on young

people aged 16 to 24 as

apprentices.

Over 120 companies

have registered their inter-

est with the Economic Wellbe-

ing

team so far and they have pledged

almost 200 jobs between them.

505 young people are registered on

the programme and are signposted

to Walsall works opportunities as

well as other available apprentice-

ships and specialised job support.

For those young people who aren’t

ready to undertake a full appren-

ticeship, there are 195 places

avai lable on a pre-

apprenticeship programme

to ensure that nobody is

left behind.

We hope you find this

newsletter valuable in keep-

ing track of the programme

over the next few years.

Walsall Council Strategic Regeneration

In this issue...

Our first Walsall Works apprentices start!

Pre-apprenticeship courses begin at WAAC

Walsall works in the media

walsallworks@walsall.gov.uk

01922 65 3151

@Walsallworks

Search for walsallworks

Www.flickr.com/walsallworks

Contact us for more

information!

£3000 for employers to

take on Walsall young

people as apprentices.

Our first

Nearly 40 apprentices have now started through the Walsall Works Scheme and many employ-

ers have benefited by our financial incentive. Here are some of the apprentices at their work-

places.

From top left to bottom right (Apprentices at A + T auto centre, Regent Engineering, Quality Engraving and

Signs, Access Products, West Mids Autos and Pinfold Patterns.)

Our apprentices, all from Walsall,

will be with their employers for at

least 12 months and be earning

£3 pound per hour or minimum

wage for over 18 year olds. This

means that they will gain real

skills in real , sustainable jobs

with real businesses.

With the support of training pro-

viders such as Walsall College, In

-comm training, NOVA training,

Matrix Training, Stourbridge Col-

lege, Walsall Housing Group

Skills Centre, Performance

through People, Walsall Adult and

Community College and others,

there has never been a better

time for local employers to recruit

apprentices.

Take-up has been fantastic and

there will be many more appren-

ticeships created between now

and the end of the project. We’ve

engaged with local businesses

through a variety of methods in-

cluding business forums, online

through social media, through

business rates flyers and through

existing relationships through

training providers.

We’ve engaged with the National

Apprenticeship Service topping

up their Apprenticeship Grant for

Employers for eligible businesses

in Walsall ensuring that Walsall

businesses gain an added benefit

through this investment from Wal-

sall Council.

We are also registering interested

young people in the scheme and

matchmaking them with the newly

created positions to ensure that

suitable people are recruited in

line with their capabilities and in-

terests.

Both Young people and inter-

ested employers can contact us

directly or fill in a form online

( w w w . w a l s a l l . g o v . u k /

walsall_works) to indicate their

interest to us. Training providers,

delivery partners and other inter-

ested parties are more then wel-

come to give us a ring to discuss

any aspects of the project.

Pre-apprenticeship courses

Young people are learning new

skills, qualifications and gaining

valuable work experience through

pre-apprenticeship courses as part

of the Walsall Works programme.

Walsall Works is supporting young

people who are not ready to com-

plete a full apprenticeship to com-

plete a 20 week course which will

enable them to gain:

Literacy and Numeracy

skills

Employability skills

A 4 week work placement

Intensive job search

Guaranteed job interview

City & Guilds qualifications

Level 1 qualifications

The Construction Green Skills

Academy and Health & Social

Care Academy commenced in

April 2012 and are being run by

Walsall Adult and Community Col-

lege (WACC). WACC are also

running a Sports academy for

young people that are interested in

careers in sports and fitness.

Young People that are attending

the Academies are financially no

worse off and are being paid a

training allowance for attending.

36 young people have already

started and there are plans to run

further pre-apprenticeship courses

in Business Skills, Construction

Green Skills, Health & Social

Care. These will commence in mid

-October.

Walsall Works Communication and Social media

As you can see above, we’ve been engaging with employers, young people and delivery partners through a variety of different mediums, in-cluding social media, print publica-tions, newspapers and even televi-sion reports on the news.

Please help us spread the word about our offer to employers by add-ing us on Facebook, Twitter and tell-ing people about our project. We want as many people to know about Walsall Works so they can take ad-vantage of the scheme for the benefit of businesses and young people of Walsall.