Welfare to Work

SARH takes on 10 Serco Youth Contract customers

SARH takes on 10 Serco Youth Contract customers

A Stafford housing association is making a difference to its local community by providing much-needed jobs for young people through Serco’s Work Programme. 

Stafford and Rural Homes (SARH) is creating jobs for young unemployed people through its new maintenance trading company “Homes First”.

Karen Armitage, chief executive of SARH, said:

“This programme is all about giving young people the opportunity to get a foot on the employment ladder while gaining valuable  experience in different areas of the business – we are passionate about making a difference to people’s lives. The most significant objective of Homes First is to provide sustainable employment and training opportunities for the local community.”

The trainees have been taken on through the Wage Incentive element of the Youth Contact, after excellent collaboration with Shaw Trust – the UK’s largest third sector provider of employment services for disabled and disadvantaged people. Shaw Trust is part of Serco’s network of expert welfare-to-work providers and delivers the Work Programme on behalf of Serco for the Department for Work and Pensions.

Kevin Rust, Employer Accounts Manager for Shaw Trust, stated: “It has been a fantastic to work with SARH and we hope this is the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.

 “The 10 trainees we have put forward are all 18-24 year olds, which we all know is an age group really struggling to find work. They have been up against a lot of competition when it comes to finding work, so we are really pleased to finally get them on the jobs ladder – there is no greater feeling than telling someone ‘well done, you’ve got the job.’”

This new initiative will see SARH invest in skills development and employment opportunities for young and unemployed people as well as generating economic activity and growth. All surpluses will be reinvested to fund new initiatives, including building homes in the future.

Kevin added: “It is not just a job; hopefully it is going to be a career for some of the trainees. After six months they will be in a fantastic position with the right support and experience to move forward, whether that is with SARH or elsewhere.”

Adam, one of the new employees said: “Competition is always a problem for most people including myself” but now “I feel exited, can’t wait to get started!”

Dominic, another employee, added: “The customer service at Shaw Trust was excellent and would recommend to anyone. With the help of Shaw Trust everything went swimmingly and hopefully the future holds a long term job/career with SARH”.

In addition to this initiative, SARH have been working in partnership with Stafford College to develop an 8-week pre-apprenticeship programme aimed at 16-18 years olds who are looking to gain work experience. Six learners have commenced on the programme and will be completing their work experience with the trade team at Stafford and Rural Homes and theory elements at Stafford College.

Karen from SARH said: “The pre-apprenticeship programme will give individuals the opportunity to gain some real life work experience help them to plan for their future careers. We are thrilled to be part of an exciting programme to give young people this chance.”

 

Notes:

About Serco

Serco is a FTSE 100 international service company, which combines commercial know-how with a deep public service ethos.

We improve essential services by managing people, processes, technology and assets more effectively. We advise policy makers, design innovative solutions, integrate systems and – most of all – deliver to the public.

Serco supports governments, agencies and companies around the world who seek a trusted partner with a solid track record of providing assured service excellence. Our people offer operational, management and consulting expertise in the aviation, BPO, defence, education, environmental services, facilities management, health, home affairs, information and communications technology, knowledge services, local government, science, transport, welfare to work and the commercial sectors.

More information can be found at www.serco.com

 

About the Work Programme

  •  The Work Programme is a government initiative, part-funded by the European Social Fund.
  • It provides jobseekers with a single package of support to help them find and sustain employment.
  • It has replaced much of the existing back-to-work support on offer, including Flexible New Deal.
  • In less than two years, Serco’s three Flexible New Deal contracts supported over 26,000 individuals back into work.
  • Serco’s two Work Programme contracts in the West Midlands and South Yorkshire are building on this success to support thousands more people to find sustainable work.
  • Serco delivers the Work Programme on behalf of the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) via a network of 33 of the very best providers from the public, private and voluntary sectors. These expert organisations offer jobseekers tailored support to help them secure sustainable jobs.
  • Our approach ensures that the voluntary and community sectors can participate fully in the welfare-to-work market. Almost half of our network is from the voluntary sector.
  • The Work Programme went live on 30 June 2011 and, although new, is already having a real impact in helping to change the lives of long-term unemployed individuals and their families through sustainable employment.
  • This is a payback-by-results contract meaning Serco and our subcontractors are only paid when we deliver real results.

About the Wage Incentive element of the Youth Contract

The Youth Contract is an initiative delivered through the Department for Work and Pensions’ Work Programme, to support 18-24 year old people into sustainable employment

From 2 April 2012 until April 2015, employers are able to take advantage of 160,000 wage incentives. These are worth up to £2,275 each where they employ an 18 to 24 year old from the Work Programme.

More details on the Youth Contract available on http://www.dwp.gov.uk/youth-contract/key-initiatives/

 

 

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