Adult Education

Building local partnerships to support even more people in to work
Adult Education  ·  Innovative Alliance  ·  Skills agenda  ·  The Progress Group
Building local partnerships to support even more people into work

With their extensive network of partners, Innovative Alliance (IA) supports individuals to take their first steps into employment.  Their latest partnership with recruitment specialist LFUK Recruitment Services Limited is set to open even more doors of opportunity for their participants, ultimately supporting them to secure employment or further training at the end of their course with IA.

LFUK are one of Merseyside’s leading recruitment consultancies, specialising in recruitment for industries including; driving, industrial, commercial, and event services. For Innovative Alliance, this means that individuals wanting to progress into roles such as Forklift Drivers, Warehousing Operatives, Stock controllers, and Warehousing shift leaders or similar, can be supported with their job search. LFUK and Innovative Alliance will work together to find employment opportunities for the learner once they have gained their qualification.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Innovative Alliance have adjusted their delivery to incorporate online training. This has enabled individuals to access the various training courses available via IA Online. This includes the Level 2 Principles of Warehousing and Storage course which is now available via online and face-to-face delivery. LFUK will support Innovative Alliance to work with individuals who complete these qualifications to progress into employment.

CEO at Innovative Alliance, Ian Green was delighted to form the local partnership. He said,

“One of the reasons we are looking forward to working with LFUK is because they share a similar ethos to ourselves in that they are passionate about opening doors for people who are looking to get into work.

“Their reputation for providing a high-quality service has led them to provide the recruitment solution for some of the North West’s top businesses. With that said, the opportunities that they will be able to provide for our learners are vital to help rebuild the economy and support even more people back into work, whilst providing employers with a skilled workforce.”

Innovative Alliance have supported hundreds of individuals over the years in securing positive destinations at the end of their training. They hope that partnerships such as this will only help to boost this number, helping all individuals to achieve their potential and secure a brighter future.

Nurturing personal purpose at a time of change
Adult Education  ·  CareersInc  ·  Complete Training Solutions  ·  Innovative Alliance  ·  Prepare to Achieve  ·  Progress Schools  ·  Skills agenda  ·  The Progress Group
Nurturing personal purpose at a time of change

Changing lives through education and training is something that resonates with me personally and is a purpose that naturally runs throughout The Progress Group.

The world pressed pause for a while and we took the time to reflect, regroup and restructure. As a business, it’s given us the opportunity to focus on our shared values across our three distinct divisions, as we start a new chapter with our new brand and ambitions.

Having a clear purpose as an organisation is of course important – but at a time when many people are looking for new direction, reassurance and support, the significance of helping to nurture an individual’s sense of purpose is crucial too.

With rapidly rising unemployment, a skills gap threatening to widen and ‘new normal’ ways of living and working to navigate, our sector needs to be there to help people develop the skills and confidence to succeed and thrive.

Today is the UN’s World Youth Skills Day, which makes it more poignant that under 25s are being hit particularly hard in the current jobs market.  The government’s latest employment statistics shows the 16 to 24 age group were the only age group to show an annual decrease in employment – down by 25,000.

It’s a similar story when we look at those not in education, employment or training (NEETS), with official figures for early 2020 showing an increase to 771,000 young people across the UK.

This is before we see the full impact of Covid-19 on the jobs market as a whole, but what’s already clear is the need to keep levelling the skills playing field in our society.

The government’s announcement last week to support young people, particularly those on universal credit, is a step in the right direction.

A personal journey

I remember the moment aged 12 when I started on my own journey to finding my personal purpose and the self-belief I needed to achieve it. Growing up on a council estate in Birmingham – on the 17th floor of a tower block for the first seven years – I desperately wanted to achieve my dream of working in the media, but my teachers at the time dismissed the idea.

It wasn’t until a local arts worker called Harry took the time teach me to how to take photographs that I really started to value myself. Learning this new skill taught me how to think about the world around me, how people are shaped and the breadth of choice and opportunity out there. It gave me the confidence to go to college and polytechnic, and secure an internship at the BBC. Although I moved away from a media career, it gave me skills, as well as a passion for education and training, which has set me on the path to the role I’m in today.

I was lucky to have had support developing my direction and resolve at a young age. Every young person deserves this, so we need to be there for those who don’t – to help people build resilience and strength and provide empathy and understanding to nurture purpose at an individual level.

Where next?

Everyone has their own personal story, whether that’s a child who’s falling behind at school, someone who has lost their job, struggling to get into work or coming out of the justice system. Sometimes they need that extra helping hand of support.

Our teams have been busy keeping education and training services running throughout the pandemic, critically supporting both youth and adult learning. For many the future can often feel uncertain, even more so now than ever before.

But this challenging time brings with it the opportunity to do things differently and harness the changes and opportunities to support the next generation to find their own successful path for the future.

This is something me and the fantastic Progress Group team are committed to delivering on a daily basis – using the power of education and training to change lives.

Achieving the first steps in to a career in construction
Adult Education  ·  Innovative Alliance  ·  The Progress Group
Achieving the first steps in to a career in construction

With the annual growth set to increase by a further 3.3% in the next five years, according to IBISWorld, a career in the construction industry holds a promising future.

Adrian Robinson has recently taken his first steps towards achieving his career goals in the sector. He completed the Level 1 Introduction to Construction course with Innovative Alliance. Whilst on the course, Adrian successfully gained his CSCS card. This opportunity allows most principal contractors and major house builders to work on site.

Completing the course in February 2020, Adrian wanted to continue to gain qualifications that would help him to stand out from the crowd. Updating his CV and seeking assistance with his interview skills helped him achieve this. After being unemployed for some time, he knew that the qualifications and experience he would gain on the course would be valuable to both himself and his future employer. Eagar to progress further, Adrian has already signed up to a future course in Traffic Management. Ray became Adrians tutor to assist him in his progression.

“We get learners from various types of backgrounds and their mixed personalities really shine through.” -Ray

Ray, who has a vast amount of experience in the sector and dealing with people from all walks of life, said:

“I love working in adult education, we get learners from various types of backgrounds and their mixed personalities really shine through during the course.

Adrian stood out within his group as someone who was determined to succeed. I was thrilled that he’d enjoyed the course so much so that he wanted to do another one with us. The aim now is to help him complete the next course and support him on his way in to employment.”

When speaking about his experience on the course, Adrian said:

“Ray was a great tutor. When explaining to us, he was clear and always positive. Because of my positive experience, I would recommend the course to anyone. I’m looking forward to starting the next course after enjoying every minute on this one.”

Once he has successfully completed the Traffic Management course, Adrian will continue to be supported by the team at Innovative Alliance. Their extensive network in the sector will assist Adrian with his progression into employment.

Innovative Alliance offer construction courses that are ideal for those who have little or no experience within the sector. For more information about this course, contact info@innovativealliance.co.uk or call 0151 433 7171.

Innovative Alliance Adult Education Training Provider Liverpool
Adult Education  ·  Innovative Alliance  ·  The Progress Group
Series of free online videos to support home-schooling and skill development

At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent nation-wide lockdown, the team at Innovative Alliance knew that they had to do something to try and support others. Understanding the demands being placed on parents to support with home-schooling, the team set about developing a series of bite-sized English and maths videos.

The adult education training provider, who is based in Liverpool, utilised the skills of their none-furloughed tutors to develop the bite-sized videos. These free resources demonstrated how English and maths could be embedded in to everyday tasks, such as working out how much paint was needed to decorate a room, how to write persuasively and how to burn calories.

Talking of the initiative, CEO Ian Green said;

“It is part of our ethos to give back and support others, and that’s just what these resources help us to do. We wanted to create some simple, easily accessible bite-size tools that would appeal to people of all maths and English abilities, and that’s just what we did. Our team of tutors worked on the project, putting their vocational knowledge and skills to good use. They had a lot of fun deciding on which theme to do next, with the video about burning calories going down a storm!”

All videos have been published on the training provider’s website as a free resource, and shared across their social media channels. Colleagues who have been home-schooling their children have commented how handy it was to have access to such resources.

But the resources also had another purpose. The team also wanted to support individuals to improve their numeracy and literacy skills during this time, in lieu of being able to support them face-to-face. By making these resources free and open to all, IA have given individuals from all social-economic backgrounds the opportunity to develop themselves. It is hoped that these resources will help to provide new knowledge and skills relating to English and maths, which individuals can then apply within the workplace (or to support them in gaining employment) once the lockdown measures are lifted.

There have been eight video resources created to date, all of which are available here.

Adult Education  ·  Innovative Alliance  ·  The Progress Group
Opening new doors to women in construction

In an industry that creates a perception of a male dominated environment, Cheryl Ali is helping to rebalance the gender gap, after completing her training with Innovative Alliance.

Before starting her training with Innovative Alliance, Cheryl was unemployed, but knew she wanted to pursue a career in Industrial Cleaning. She enrolled on a Building and Construction course to obtain her CSCS card that would allow her to progress on her career journey.

However, whilst completing the course, she realised that there were various opportunities within the sector that she had never considered before. The course has opened new doors to a wide variety of career paths available to her.

She said, “I found the support from the Tutors excellent as well as the fun and engaging work atmosphere. I would highly recommend this course to people from all walks of life.”

Cheryl is now receiving the support she needs from Innovative Alliance and their extensive network of employers within the industry, to decide which career path is right for her.

Her tutor Ray said: “Cheryl has worked very hard to achieve her Level 1 Introduction to Construction and CSCS card. She has the motivation to go far and do well. I’m very proud of Cheryl.

“Sometimes it’s hard to open your eyes to other possibilities that are available to you when you’ve had your heart focused on something for so long. So, it’s great that the course has helped her to branch out and consider new opportunities.”

Innovative Alliance offer construction courses that are ideal for those who have little or no experience within the sector. For more information about this course, contact info@innovativealliance.co.uk or call 0151 433 7171.

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