The Council’s first ever Employability Week – hosted by staff and partner organisations – was just the job for people looking for work and training opportunities.
The special week of activities to help people into employment was a resounding success as almost 1000 people attended events.
Employability Week featured a series of events to showcase services that are available through North Ayrshire Council and various partners, with information about job vacancies, new careers, training, volunteering and college courses on offer.
Our employability service, working with partners delivering Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme, arranged it all to help people explore local opportunities.
At Eglinton Park, 110 people turned up to enjoy a barbecue in the sunshine and find out about new opportunities. Feedback included that the event showed “excellent partnership working” and offered “great networking”.
The MA recruitment day was a hit, with almost 140 young people attending and comments being made on how helpful everyone was and how great the advice offered was.
The DWP job fair attracted almost 500 claimants and, of these, eight people found work straight away, 34 interviews were arranged or conducted, and 141 job applications were filled in. The feedback from attendees, employers and providers was very positive.
At the Parent Hub, more than 100 people went along and four new parents registered to get support in finding employment. Feedback focused on how informative the session was and how welcoming the atmosphere was.
Everyone involved in staging Employability Week agrees that it was a productive week and hopes to see it become a regular feature on the events calendar.
Laura Neill, Senior Manager for Employability, said: “I would like to thank everyone – all the Council staff, charities and partners – involved in making this week one to remember by showcasing all the wonderful opportunities that are right here on our doorstep.
“Everybody worked really hard to make these events a great success and, more importantly, many people found out about new opportunities they might never have known existed.
“In fact, Employability Week was so valuable to people in our communities who are searching for the right job, training or volunteering opportunity, we are looking at making it an annual event. Thanks again to my own team and all the Council staff involved.”
The key events were:
- An open day and barbecue at Eglinton Community Gardens in Irvine’s Eglinton Park, jointly hosted by Saltcoats-based Ayrshire Community Trust, the Council’s Justice service, which supports people who have been through the justice system with unpaid work and training and Equal, which is a Council service helping people with disabilities or long-term health conditions get back into work.
- A Modern Apprenticeships (MA) recruitment day at Irvine’s Volunteer Rooms
- A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) job fair in Saltcoats Town Hall and
- The official launch of the Parent Hub at Glasgow Street, Ardrossan. This is run by Council-funded service We Work for Families, which was set up in 2017 and covers all of North Ayrshire. The team offers help with CVs, confidence building, accessing childcare, training and employment opportunities.
Laura Neill, Senior Manager for Employability, said: “I would like to thank everyone – all the Council staff, charities and partners – involved in making this week one to remember by showcasing all the wonderful opportunities that are right here on our doorstep.