Colleagues successfully support parents into work and training.
Parents across North Ayrshire continue to be supported into valuable work experience and jobs through our Employability team. The team’s initiatives are helping to make life better for families by finding and creating sustainable employment opportunities.
Our Employability Service delivers a range of support and opportunities through its Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme.
One of these opportunities is the Skills for Life programme which supports parents into paid work experience, usually leading to sustainable employment with the council.
Helene Hainey lost her job in 2023 due to redundancy and registered with CEIS Ayrshire – a social enterprise that offers employability support through skills training and other services – for help with creating a CV, interview preparation and confidence-building.
Through CEIS, Helene was referred to the Skills for Life Clerical programme and went on to:
- complete a five-week PC Passport college course, gaining skills in Microsoft Office
- participate in workshops on teamwork and confidence building
- secure a 26-week paid placement with North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s (HSCP) Families for Children Service, working towards an SVQ Level 2 in Business Administration
Helene’s Skills for Life Keyworker helped update her CV, identified job vacancies and helped her to prepare for interviews. This enabled her to secure her current role as Programme Delivery Support Officer for Modern Apprenticeships within the council’s Employability team.
Helene said: “The increase in family income has taken away the constant financial worry of waiting on my next Universal Credit Payment.”
Over the past year, the successful Skills for Life programme has seen 80 parents participating and 75 per cent of them have stayed in employment with various employers.
For more information on the Employability support provided by NAC and its partners, visit the dedicated council webpage.
Helene Hainey: She says, thanks to Skills For Life, she no longer feels “constant financial worry”
“The increase in family income has taken away the constant financial worry of waiting on my next Universal Credit Payment.”Helene Hainey, Skills for Life recruit
John MacLeod: He enjoyed the Parental Employment Programme, and recommends it to others.
The Employability team’s Parental Employment Programme (PEP) is a Third Sector partnership that offers job-seeking parents paid, mentored six-month placements.
The collaboration helps get parents on the road to workplace success and John MacLeod, who has five-year-old daughter, recently completed the programme.
John had received Universal Credit for a number of years and wanted a job that would fit in with his daughter’s school hours and childcare needs.
Through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), he applied for a six-month PEP placement as an Employability Resourcer with CEIS Ayrshire to help other people relying on benefits to improve their job search skills.
Before applying for the role, he registered with We Work for Families (WWFF) – which is a council-funded service in Ardrossan that supports parents into work.
The staff there gave him pre-employment training, budgeting support, better-off-in-work calculations and assistance with his travel costs to and from work.
During the placement, he was supported with tasks including guidance on CV updates and job searching. John commented: “I’m less stressed now, I have more financial stability, and I enjoy more quality time with my daughter.”
The six-month placement led to a job offer from CEIS and John has now completed a Lean Management course and leads a systems improvement project aimed at modernising work practices.
John would encourage other parents to contact our Employability experts for advice on their next steps, adding: “It might feel daunting, especially if you’ve been out of work for a while—but it’s worth it. You learn, you grow – and you might just surprise yourself!”
Laura Neill, Senior Manager for Employability & Skills, said: “Combining our expertise with the expertise of our partner organisations – like CEIS Ayrshire and the DWP – allows us to help people across North Ayrshire as they look for work and training opportunities.
“There are programmes available to support people of all ages, including the Personal Recruitment Incentive (PRI) programme that offers grants to businesses that create job opportunities for younger jobseekers.
“Through our EQUAL service, we also offer support to anyone aged 16 and over with physical, mental health or neurological conditions who is ready to take their next step into employment.
“We understand that getting back into the workplace or starting training can be a daunting experience, and our teams are here to help people take that first step.
“If council colleagues know someone – a family member, former colleague or friend – who may benefit from our services, please ask them to get in touch.”
Across the various Employability teams, residents can get support with everything from job vacancies and paid work experience to creating a CV and confidence building.
To find out more about the opportunities delivered by Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire please email employability@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
“We understand that getting back into the workplace or starting training can be a daunting experience, and our teams are here to help people take that first step. If council colleagues know someone – a family member, former colleague or friend – who may benefit from our services, please ask them to get in touch.”Laura Neill, Senior Manager for Employability & Skills
