Agenda item

Southwark Apprentice Scheme

Ann Cochrane, Organisational Development Business Partner

South London Apprentice Fair, October 2012

Andrew Twesigye, Liberty Development Enterprise

Volunteering opportunities

Jacob Przeklasa, Volunteer Centre Southwark

Southwark Apprentice Scheme

Ann Cochrane, Organisational Development Business Partner, outlined the council’s apprenticeship programme. The apprenticeships were real paid jobs for four days a week with college study on a fifth day. Many of the previous apprentices had gone on to permanent employment and to completing university degrees. Apprentices had to be a minimum of 16 or 18 years of age depending on the particular programme, a Southwark resident and not already a graduate. A contract of employment for a minimum of twelve months was guaranteed for apprentices, along with a lot of support from Southwark including coaching and mentoring. Ann highlighted several successful Southwark apprentices who had gone on to launch their careers. Since 2005, 168 apprentices had started the programme and 124 had completed the full framework qualification. Recruitment for next year would start in May 2013. Contact Ann Cochrane: ann.cochrane@southwark.gov.uk or Tel. 020 7525 1490

In response to questions, Ann made the following points:

• The funding for the qualifications came from central government. Many of the

apprentices stayed with the council, whilst some went on to university or to employment in the private sector

• Where an individual has special needs, the training providers would be asked what additional support was available to ensure access to the apprenticeship programme was as broad as possible

South London Apprentice Fair, October 2012

Andrew Twesigye, from the Offbeat organisation, explained that last year’s apprentice fair had been attended by more than 700 people. The disturbances in August 2012 led many to say there were not enough opportunities for young people. The thinking behind the fair was that there were many routes to success. At this year’s fair there would be jobs on offer, careers advice and voluntary work opportunities. Among the companies confirmed for this year were O2 and EBay.

Volunteering Opportunities

Jacob Przeklasa, Volunteer Centre Southwark (VCS), said that the Olympics had made volunteering cool and young people were keen to get involved. The VCS had been around for 15 years and was based at Elephant & Castle with the aim of making volunteering easy. Last year 700 voluntary groups were supported by VCS with over 1,800 volunteers taking part in activities. There was a volunteering best practice project to assist organisations get funding and manage volunteers. A wide range of voluntary projects were undertaken and the process helped people gain experience, references and employment.

Contact: info@volunteercentres.org.uk or Tel. 020 7703 4205