Experience Works Biannual Impact Report
4. EXPERIENCE WORKS
October 2022 – March 2023
This report was produced by Devon Communities Together, who are the evaluation and impact measurement partner for Experience Works. Visit www.devoncommunities.org.uk for further information.
Introduction to Experience Works
Experience Works is a partnership project that seeks to support 15–24-year-olds in Devon who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), or at risk of becoming so from June 2020 originally to May 2023, later extended to September 20203. This partnership project is managed by Petroc.
The project is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and is managed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Plymouth City Council have contributed match funding to support the project management (by Petroc) & evaluation elements (by DCT) of Experience Works.
Each young person on the project works with a mentor, who will be their key support whilst on Experience Works. Through one-to-one meetings the mentor helps the participant to pinpoint their talents, ambitions and barriers and identify any gaps in skills or experience that can be tackled through a personal development plan (PDP). The participant then builds a portfolio that shows an employer or training organisation that they are ready to work and learn.
As well as one-to-one sessions, participants may take part in:
• Workplace learning – this could be short placements, mock interviews, virtual work experience, the opportunity to connect with employers to understand their workplace, business or industry.
• Volunteering and social action - to build deeper links with the community around them and to gain and demonstrate skills and attributes like timekeeping, teamwork, problem solving and resilience.
• Short tasters and training on a range of topics for example digital skills, manual handling; food hygiene; first aid; customer service.
• Employability sessions to develop transferable skills, job search, interview techniques and to assemble evidence including a CV and references.
• The option of in-work support to help the young person transition into work or training when they progress.
Introduction to the fifth impact report
October 2022 to March 2023 was the fifth half-year period of the project which started in June 2020 and which runs to 30 September 2023.
Previous reports have been confined to the preceding sixth-month period. However, as recruitment of participants began very slowly due to the effects of Covid-19 restrictions and have picked up as the project progressed, It has been hard to make meaningful comparisons between six month periods. Therefore, this report covers the period from the start of the project to 31st March 2023. In places it sets data from the six-month period in the context of
the whole
project.
This partnership project is led by Petroc, who manage the project’s strategy, budget and administration, and are responsible for working with the partners to ensure that the project is
working with in ESF rules and regulations while working towards the required targets, results and outcomes the partnership and ensuring that the intended targets, results and outcomes are achieved
There are four delivery partners during this reporting period. They vary in size and operating structures with a number of mentors per organisation. Delivery partners operate throughout Devon (as shown in the table below), with Plymouth covered by three of them.
Delivery partner Area
Battling On Plymouth & Tavistock
Groundwork South Plymouth & Torbay
Petroc
The Prince’s Trust
Barnstaple & North Devon
Plymouth, Torbay, Exeter & North Devon
Five other partners who joined the project at the start have now left the programme. Reasons for withdrawing include loss of a match funding source and difficulties in recruiting young people due to the impact of the Kickstart apprenticeship programme which attracted many potential participants.
Devon Communities Together continue in their role as evaluation and support partner.
There is now enough evidence to begin to identify some preliminary learnings and recommendations.
This is the final Biannual Impact Report. The next report will be the final impact report, covering the whole project up to its final delivery in September 2023.
Key Findings
1. Recruitment of young people to the project has accelerated: 255 have enrolled onto the programme, an increase of 72 (28%) over the previous periods.
2. 101 participants have completed, with 73% of those having exited into work or education.
3 A number of priority group targets were exceeded:
• The young people engaged on the project who report having a disability is 43% (against 49% in the previous period).
• 53% of participants report having mental health issues (20% in previous period).
• The number of women recruited remains slightly above contract at 41% (39%)
• More starters were economically inactive (as opposed to unemployed) than anticipated, with 50% against a target of 32%
4. Partnership development has continued with:
• three partnership meetings,
• a local mentors’ meeting
• a finance update meeting between Petroc and Devon Communities Together
5 73% of participants completing the programme felt that their employability skills had improved and 70% that their basic life skills had improved. 74% reported improved health and wellbeing.
Outputs (Targets)
At the inception of Experience Works a target engagement figure was set of 1,220 participants to be engaged over the life of the project, along with a set of targets for the priority groups of participants. The initial meeting of partners took place on 22nd September 2020, on the same day as new Covid-19 restrictions were announced and six weeks before the second lockdown was imposed. As a result of these and subsequent measures to address the pandemic, the first recruitment did not take place until 1 March 2021, just before schools reopened and whilst other restrictions were still in place.
Subsequently, recognising the extreme circumstances in which the project began, the overall target was revised in October 2022 to 851 starts.
The following charts shows the overall engagement during the life of the project to date and the demographic results against target.
255 young people have engaged with Experience Works, of the target of 850.
Over a quarter of recruitment (28%) has taken place in this six month period, compared with 72% in the previous 24 months.
A major factor in the initial low takeup was the effect of Covid-19 restrictions. Initial recruitment was due to start in January 2021, but none took place during the first three months of the project due to Covid-19 restrictions and resulting social anxiety It is apparent from the following chart that the pace of recruitment increased as restrictions were eased.
First Experience Works partner meeting. New Covid restrictions announced, including return to working from home
Second lockdown announced
Second lockdown comes into force
Project development from initiation, showing numbers of participants by date and Covid restrictions
Second lockdown ends. New Christmas restrictions announced
Third lockdown announced
Schools in England reopen
Restrictions begin to be eased
Most restrictions lifted Plan B introduced, facemasks compulsory
Progress to date (whole project)
The following outputs and results are the project’s targets in the Experience Works contract with the Department for Work and Pensions. A number of priority group targets have been exceeded. This shows details of the 255 participants who went ‘live’ on the project since the start of the project meaning that they completed the entry paperwork with their mentor and provided and submitted the necessary paperwork to evidence their eligibility.
Ethnicity
The number of participants from ethnic minorities remained close to the Devon average, at 3%, compared with 3.6%.
The number of people declaring a disability remains ahead of the national rate, though slightly lower as a percentage of participants compared with the previous period. A total of 113 or 68% selfreported as having any sort of disability against a target of 10%. This includes:
• 110 (43%) with a physical and/or learning disability (compared with a population rate of 21% of the working age population)1. Of these:
o 38 (15%) have a physical disability (compared with 19% in the previous period)
o 95 (37%) have a learning difficulty or disability (compared with 41% previously)
o 135 (53%) report a mental health difficulty (compared with 54% previously)
o 23 (9%) reported both physical and learning disabilities.
o 87 did not have a learning or physical disability. Of those, 58 reported mental health issues.
This correlation between disability and mental health and NEET status is borne out by UK government figures showing that the proportion of 16-24 year olds who were NEET was higher for those with disabilities (28%) than those without (8%).2
1 Kirk-Wade: UK disability statistics: Prevalence and life experiences, House of Commons Library, July 2022
2 Powell: NEET: Young people Not in Education, Employment or Training, House of Commons Library 2021
Basic Skills
27% of participants started on Experience Works without basic skills, compared with a target of 17%.
Single adult household
The number of participants from a single adult household has risen from 5% in the last reporting period to 16% in this. The figure may be higher as 21 (8%) recorded ‘prefer not to say’ for this question. The original target was 4%.
Results
Of the 101 young people who have completed Experience Works to date, 73% went into education, training or employment, compared with a target of 43%.
Summary of outputs
Project outcomes
A range of additional Outcomes have been identified by Petroc and Devon Communities Together to support the identification and measurement of progress towards outcomes being achieved. Though these are not contractual targets, when considered cumulatively, they are valuable indicators of change
Experience Works Outcomes
1. Young people participating in the project have improved their employability and life skills.
2. Young people have increased their knowledge of their local communities and have made positive contributions to them.
3. Employers have increased their understanding of young people who are NEET, and are better equipped to provide them with valuable opportunities.
4. Local support services have benefitted from improved referral processes
5. Organisations inside and outside the partnership have access to best practice and lessons learned from Experience Works.
Outcome 1
Young people participating in the project have improved their employability and life skills.
255 young people have started and received support from Experience Works.
Completer status
Completers with result - employed Completers with result - education or training Completers without result
Sessions
Once on the project, participants engaged with mentors via the following types of sessions:
• Induction: advice and guidance session to establish if the project is right for the participant , to establish they meet the eligibility criteria and to complete paperwork
• Regular: one-to-one sessions with the mentor covering job-seeking skills, support with issues such as housing or any other guidance, working on goals from an agreed Participants Development Plan.
• Group: these may be with the mentor or other staff or with external partners. They could include the development of social or work skills, health and fitness, and volunteering or social activity.
• Advocacy: working on research on for, or representing participants, sometimes in their absence. Examples include the Careers Service, employers, The Samaritans and online training courses.
Session by type
TYPES OF SESSION
Induction, 289, 13%
Regular, 1450, 65%
Hours spent on each session type
A total of 2229 sessions took place, the bulk of which were one-to-one. A total of 1883 hours (equal to over 250 working days) was spent by participants in sessions. Group sessions formed 14% by number but they accounted for over a third of the time spent.
Partners report that group sessions are important in addressing social isolation and developing social skills and relationships. Staff are able to model positive behaviours in real-life situations.
Breakdown of starters by delivery partner in this reporting period
Participants by Partner from start of the project
The Princes Trust, 68, 27%
South Devon College, 1, 0%
PGL Training, 16, 6%
Petroc, 68, 27%
Battling On, 66, 26% Bluescreen IT, 10, 4% City College Plymouth, 0, 0%
Groundwork South, 26, 10%
PARTICIPANTS RECRUITED BY PARTNER THIS PERIOD
Battling On, 23, 26%
The Prince's Trust, 36, 41%
Groundwork South, 6, 7%
Petroc, 23, 26%Examples of activities undertaken to improve employability skills
Employability skills include those delivered by the partners, for example helping a young person to write a CV or prepare for an interview, and those delivered by external organisations including employers and training providers.
Examples include:
• Working one to one and in groups with participants to consider what employers expect, review CVs and prepare young people for interview (Groundwork South, Petroc, Battling On)
• Using the Explore website (Employment Key) to support participants in CV writing.
• Work taster days (The Princes Trust)
• ‘Get into…’ an extended work experience programme, collaborating with industry partners in various sectors, including retail, hospitality, sport and photography. (The Princes Trust run this, but it is accessed by participants from the other providers).
• Mock interviews by Department for Work and Pensions staff (the Princes Trust)
• Providing kitchen and cookery skills sessions (Petroc)
• Providing alternative routes to study for GCSEs (The Princes Trust, Petroc)
• Enabling young people to access theatre lessons at The Theatre Royal, providing industry skills and improving confidence and ‘soft’ skills (Battling On)
Progress Star
The progress star is a tool for participants to self-assess themselves against 16 categories creating a picture of their employability skills, life skills, community engagement and wellbeing. They do this on entering the project and again on exit. The difference between the two scores (indicated by the size of the ‘star’) indicates how they feel they have progressed on these measures.
Progress Star
The use of a graphic for selfassessment makes the tool more accessible and gives a visual indication of strengths or areas of confidence. In this example the black line is the start of the project and the blue line the end.
Several of the categories are grouped to give overall scores for ‘Increased employability skills’ , another subset for ‘basic life skills’, ‘community engagement’ and ‘health & wellbeing’ as follows:
In all four groups, 70% of participants had improved scores. On the one hand this may suggest that participants who scored well on one grouping tended to do so on all. This is somewhat borne out by the range of scores – between highest and lowest – recorded by each participant.
• Over 50% of participants showed a range of 0 – 3 between their highest and lowest score.
• The largest score increase recorded was 8, recorded by three participants.
• Only six participants (7%) recorded both positive and negative scores, indicating that they felt they had improved in some areas but declined in others.
However, there is considerable overlap between the categories making up the four aggregated which may tend to smooth out any differences.
It is worth noting that increased employability or life skills do not necessarily translate into participants feeling more prepared or having more desire to be in employment, education or training. Only 51% felt ‘readiness for EET’ and 40% ‘more desire for EET’. This suggests that improvement in specific skills or attributes (eg ‘Listening to Others’ or ‘Reliability’) did not necessarily result in greater confidence or desire for work.
In some cases, participants scored themselves lower on some categories at the end of the project than at the start. In one case this resulted in an overall lower score. This did not mean the young person had scored themselves lower on all categories. One participant showed a slightly lower exit
than entry score for Life Skills, but a higher score for employability due to the specific combination of categories contributing to those measures.
Given that the young people were receiving support with employment skills, and therefore all scores might be expected to increase, one factor in lower scores may be that their increased knowledge made them more self-critical.
Whilst 73% of completers felt that they had improved their employability skills, only 58% felt more ready to apply for employment or training, and just 40% felt a higher desire to take up employment, education or training.
Explore
Explore was designed to support participants to prepare for job searching. It includes resources on transferable skills, preparing a CV, job searching, and interview techniques. It contains links to job search sites, further training and education, volunteering opportunities and wellbeing resources. It is specifically designed to help those with little or no work experience to identify attributes that may be valuable in job seeking. The website can be found using the following link: How to write a CV | Explore | England (explore-experienceworks.com)
A major review of the Explore website took place, in consultation with the partners. As the project has matured and mentors have developed their own approaches to supporting participants’ employment skills development. As a result, use of the Explore resources has reduced because a) mentors downloaded and stored offline the resources they needed and b) mentors have used alternative resources. Partners reported that rather than skills development tools, they needed current information on volunteering and employment opportunities. Therefore, the site was redeveloped to increase the number of links to employment and volunteering sites. Subsequently it was determined that, in order to ensure information was up to date, it would be sent to partners as a bulletin (see appendix 1)
The employment skills resources have remained on the site and have largely been accessed by new mentors.
Summary of Outcome 1 Indicators
*These outputs are measured via completion of the Progress Star. They only apply to participants who have completed Experience Works as scores are compared at the start and end of the project.
Outcome 2
Young people have increased their knowledge of their local communities and have made positive contributions to them.
Experience Works intends that communities will benefit from young people making an increased positive contribution through social action and work experience; the young people being better skilled and prepared to make positive contributions; a lower risk of young people participating in negative behaviours; and places being more socially cohesive and safer due to reduced antisocial behaviour.
34 participants (42%) reported on their progress stars that they were ‘increasingly helping others’ whilst 37 (47%) felt ‘better able to engage with other people’. This represents a significant increase over the previous period when just 16% said they were increasingly helping others.
Volunteering
The number and range of volunteering activities has increased compared with the previous period, though does not form a major part of most partners’ programmes
With Petroc, young people have been volunteering at the National Trust’s Arlington Court property. Each volunteer is able to try out the different roles that run on-site such as ranger work, gardening & horticulture, kitchen/serving, customer service, curating or conservation.
Battling On reports that through volunteering young people gain a better understanding of work and what is required to fulfil a job role.
Community Activity
A range of community-based activities were offered by the partners introducing young people to aspects of their locality that they may otherwise have been unable to access. These sometimes took the form of training or social events which were, nevertheless, based in the community.
• Petroc participants are engaged in community projects run by LiveWest and taking part in community events
• Young people on The Prince’s Trust’s work with Fotonow (a community-based video and photo company) have created a video about the ‘civic journey’ of a young person. As well as learning video production skills, this involved vox pop interviews with people about their own community involvement. This led to three of the participants being offered two-week paid work experience with Fotonow.
• Also with The Prince’s Trust, young people produced a play with the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, exploring their local community and identity within it. This supported the young people to better understand some of the issues impacting them such as the economy, the government, housing and employment.
• Groundwork South made use of a local community venue – market hall in Plymouth – to give one young person who suffers from anxiety experience in traveling alone and engaging with people in a public venue.
Outcome 3
Employers have increased their understanding of young people who are NEET and are better equipped to provide them with valuable opportunities.
One outcome of Experience Works is that it should lead to employers having a greater understanding of the needs of young people. This is achieved by:
• Employers offering positions and experiences to young people on the project
• Partners’ support for those young people and the employers
• DCT providing awareness raising training for employers
Learning opportunities
58 young people have taken part in a total of 82 learning opportunities with employers. 11 of these had multiple experiences whilst for 47 the experience was listed as a one-off. The events were: mock interviews, work shadowing, work experience, employer talks, and electrical & plumbing experience.
Delivery Partners
Petroc mentors have attended business forums with local businesses and charities to find ways of engaging more young people into work and volunteering roles:
“we’ve been able to explain the work we’re doing in Experience Works and helping break down some of the stigma surrounding NEETs”
They have also placed a young person in work experience with the aim that this will lead to an apprenticeship.
The Prince’s Trust has continued to deliver its ‘Get Into…’ programme, in partnership with several businesses in the fields of retail (with M&S), and hospitality (with TLH Torquay and Premier Inn, Plymouth). These programmes involve close collaboration between the employer, young person and mentor.
Community organisations and charities sometimes play a dual role in both training and employment of young people. Following a video project in which they took part, three Prince’s Trust participants were offered paid work experience with Fotonow CIC, who delivered the project. Similarly, a participant with Petroc who took part in a volunteering project with the National Trust was subsequently offered a ranger post. These examples illustrate the value of contact with employers through work experience and volunteering, enabling the employer to develop an understanding of young people’s needs.
The Prince’s Trust ‘Get Into’ and ‘Get Started In’ programmes have been taken up by other partners: Battling On put people onto the ‘Get Started in Sport’ programme with Plymouth Argyle, with two being offered apprenticeships.
It is worth noting the role of The Prince’s Trust, which due to its size and national profile, is able to broker partnerships with large employers beyond the scope of smaller, local organisations. All the currently active partners have been able to take advantage of The Prince’s Trust programmes.
Similar limitations may face a third party organisation like Devon Communities Together when trying to broker partnerships between delivery partners and employers. A key challenge was that when approached, employers wanted an immediately available pool of potential employees, which it was not always possible to provide. Likewise, the delivery partners needed definite offers of work placements to suit their current participants, not just employers who might be sympathetic.
Staffing changes can easily disrupt any progress that has been made in employer engagement. Groundwork South has faced staff turnover during this period, and the new mentor is starting from scratch in building relationships with potential employers.
Devon Communities Together
During this period employer engagement activities have been tapering off. The team continued to reach out to employers, attending two employer networking events (the number of attendees is not recorded) and holding meetings with three employers.
No further employer training has taken place as there was no take up for additional workshops. We can surmise that this is because, given the volatile post-Covid employment market and the difficulties that employers have reported in recruiting and retaining staff, HR departments are focused on hiring.
Outcome 4
Local support services have benefitted from improved referral processes.
Building relationships with local support services, for both referrals in, and signposting out, has proven to be key to the success of Experience Works and has again been prioritised by partners, with old and new collaborations being maintained across the county.
Partnerships with the Department for Work and Pensions through Job Centres have expanded, with all the delivery partners reporting excellent relationships. Groundwork South report that they,
‘Set up liaison meetings with DWP to promote the project, which in turn has led to a number of new sign ups.’
It also shows that as well as the referrals, there is an element of advocacy and signposting to external services.
As The Princes Trust reports, there are a number of different ways in which partners interact with Job Centres:
‘We have continued to develop our relationships with DWP [Job Centre Plus] including attending job fairs, work coach team meetings and having desks within various JCPs across the county. In total we had over 30 days at JCP locations across Quarter 1. ‘Get Hired’ included PT and DWP staff giving mock interviews before participants had real interviews.’
Battling On has a weekly slot at Skills Launch Pad in Plymouth City Centre where they run a drop in centre. They have a ‘large space…where the participants can freely socialise …and get help with work or training. Having Skills Launch pad staff there and DWP coaches is a bonus as they come over and chat with the participants.’
Learnings
Relationships with employment services, particularly Job Centre Plus, have been crucial to the success of the programme. These have been inconsistent, varying between partners and locations. They appear to have been dependent on the willingness of individual JCP staff to engage. In future projects funded through the Department for Work and Pensions the possibility of central support in brokering these relationships should be considered.
Summary of Outcome 4 Indicators
*These outputs are measured via completion of the Progress Star. They only apply to participants who have completed Experience Works as scores are compared at the start and end of the project.
Outcome 5
Organisations inside and outside the partnership have access to best practice and lessons learned from Experience Works.
The Partner Meetings have continued to play a key role in enabling project partners to regularly share best practice, achievements, and challenges they have faced. Two Partner Meetings, facilitated by the Petroc Management team were hosted in this period in December 2022 and March 2023, with a total of 23 attendees from across all partner organisations. This brings the total number of partner meetings for the project to eleven, with total attendances being 144.
The Petroc Management team uses these meetings to:
• Give project updates, including proposed and agreed changes to targets
• Check progress against priority group targets, note any variations from targets and suggest priorities in order to meet these targets.
• Ensure that claim and reporting processes are being followed correctly and provide advice on effective and efficient ways of reporting.
• Provide training and support.
• Share best practice among partners.
• Respond to queries and concerns from partners.
• Ensure the requirements of publicity and cross-cutting themes are being met.
These meetings are a valuable element of communication within the project as they allow for a level of information sharing and the opportunity to check understanding which would not otherwise be possible.
For example, the huge range of participant needs and circumstances raises issues which may require interpretation of the guidelines, as in this instance where a query raised by one partner has been shared at the meeting with all partners: ‘Apprenticeship Query – Confirmed by Funding Officer, if an apprentice loses their employment but continues the theory element, then they can be eligible for the project as an ‘at risk’ learner.’
Whilst the clear and consistent structure ensures that essential business is dealt with, there is considerable opportunity for more fluid discussion between partners leading to a valuable exchange of ideas and initiatives.
As the project has progressed, these meetings have been a catalyst for more collaborative working between partners. For example, The Princes Trust informed the other partners about initiatives, including the ‘Get Into’ programme, which were open to their participants. Partners also discussed various approaches to working with Job Centre Plus, leading to improved working relationships.
In addition to the two Partner Meetings, one Local Partner Meeting took place in November 2022. These meetings are designed to allow the mentors to come together and discuss progress and share learnings and ideas in a more organic way than the partner meetings
Case studies
Outcome 1 case study
Young people participating in the project have improved their employability and life skills.
This example from Groundwork South gives an indication of the range of challenges that a participant may face, and how anxiety and lack of confidence can play a large part in preventing access to work and training.
Their mentor supported them to choose between Marjon and Plymouth University and encouraged them to explore the local community with their newly acquired mobility scooter as the participant was previously reliant on friends and family pushing them in a wheelchair. The participant was very anxious about this but in small steps achieved travelling first to a coffee shop in a taxi then to the local library on their scooter from home where they were supported to mark their most recent paper.
Between the appointments the participant increased their confidence by travelling independently by taxi to go swimming and to use their mobility scooter to access the local shop on their own for the first time since becoming unwell. The Participant overcame their anxiety to use the local bus for the first time in 6 years and on their mobility scooter with support from their mentor.
This participant is an example of someone who has overcome multiple barriers to achieve their targets and develop their skills to travel independently and not let their disability stop them. They still have their exam to complete and would like further support to travel to the university so they can explore the most energy efficient way to get to University in September. They are an inspiration to other young people on what can be achieved with a little support and lots of determination!
Outcome 2 case study
Young people have increased their knowledge of their local communities and have made positive contributions to them.
“It’s rituals, it’s food, it’s politics, it’s cultural events, it’s things we remember, favourite times, it’s clothing, it’s sexuality – sexuality times two. It’s things we smell, disability, nationality, and gender. Worst times, personality, it’s who you are.”
This excerpt is taken from a theatre performance given by participants of the Experience Works project at the Theatre
Royal in Plymouth. The group of young people got together for one week under the direction of two staff members of the theatre, codesigning a piece around the theme of ‘identity’. The script for the play was entirely based on the experiences, memories, sensations, and associations of the young people, and was created by them interviewing each other. After the script was set, the participants spent two days rehearsing the piece, before performing in front of family and friends at the theatre studio.
Dan Phillips, Service Delivery Manager at the Prince’s Trust explained the project
“The week started for the young people with a make-up session on Monday. They used specialist make-up techniques to age each other into their 70’s and 80’s – a great way to make friends and build the team. They've had a really busy week planning, writing and practicing their own performance on identity. Midweek they all went to a theatre show with dinner, this was a new experience for many of them.”
For one participant, taking part in the theatre week was an opportunity to gain confidence and come out of her shell, after having had a challenging time at university. She has always been interested in theatre work and would like to write her own plays. By performing in front of an audience she fulfilled a dream: “I love the idea of being on stage. From such a young age, I had the dream of performing in front of a theatre. Now that I have done it, I will try to make something else from it.”
Participants gained a sense of achievement and have grown in confidence:
“I’m so proud of myself, I never thought I would do something like that.”
“What I enjoyed most was getting a story about young people’s identity out there. It’s really important to know yourself and to know people around you. I think it made me enjoy it a lot more. I personally struggle with my own identity anyway, so having something where all of us can come together and spread a message that more people should know about, was really important.”
“It’s great to know that you can do something like this and find friends for life.”
Outcome 3 Case Study
Employers have increased their understanding of young people who are NEET and are better equipped to provide them with valuable opportunities.
Getting into Hospitality with TLH and The Prince's Trust
The HR team at Torbay Leisure Hotels speak about their partnership with The Prince's Trust and 'Get into Hospitality' programme. They explain how they have adapted their recruitment and training systems to support people with additional needs, and the benefits to them of employing the young people .
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Outcome 4 Case Study
Local support services have benefitted from improved referral processes.
The Groundwork South mentor explains how a close working relationship with a local Job Centre Plus (referred to here as ‘DWP’ – Department for Work and Pensions) has benefited both parties.
"The DWP have been really responsive. The work coach put me on their internal noticeboard explaining what I could offer. I email and meet up with her at least every two weeks. We have case conferences together about participants and work together to support them. The work coach writes in their journal things they need to give me. I advocate the position with their UC. We have removed a number of barriers to working together and I have received a large amount of referrals from them.
They refer candidates to me and I work on the whole bespoke picture for the young person such as ID, GP registration for medical support and liaising with training providers."
Outcome 5 Case Study
Organisations inside and outside the partnership have access to best practice and lessons learned from Experience Works.
These extracts from Battling On show that sharing best practice often takes place in relation to an individual and through one to one discussions with other organisations.
Nia was passionate and knowledgeable about animals but had been in/out of accessing education since the age of 13 years and had not fully completed a course/provision previously. She also suffers from depression and anxiety and periods of deterioration in her physical health.
After a few mentoring sessions she discussed with her mentor possible options to access training/education within the animal care sector, Nia communicated that she would only consider this as an option if the provision was relatively small, due to previous experiences which were not that positive and that she felt supported.
The mentor and Nia met with the manager of Animal Care at Achievement Training College and discussed Nia’s circumstances and what support Nia may possibly need to access L2 Animal Care Diploma. With the mentor’s support she was able to access the computer assessment and started the course.
Nia also gained a college placement at the Ark Pet Centre […] one day each week and was thoroughly enjoying the skills that she was gaining and engaging with the animals and the public, which for [her] was a completely new experience and concept.
However, Nia started to feel overwhelmed, was struggling at times to be in the classroom and found it difficult to engage when there was lots of noise.
I established that the most suitable way forward with my support would be to assist with communicating to the college and to Ark Pet Centre as Nia struggled with instigating communication and interpreting communication at times.
I supported Nia by keeping in regular contact with the college and placement, updating all to where Nia was currently ‘at’. [It was] agreed that Nia would be able to complete certain pieces of coursework from home.
The mentor provided information regarding application for an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) however the application was declined. There was an appeal and the mentor provided a supporting statement about the mentoring that Experience Works had supplied, and her perspective of Nia and her barriers.
The mentor liaised with Nia, her mother, the local authority and the college during the appeal at which she was able to ensure that suitable provision was made. She advised that someone does not have to be ‘behind academically’ to apply for an EHCP and that changes to the guidelines recognise that if someone is not accessing their training provision, that is sufficient evidence that there are barriers.
Nia gained a Distinction in her Level 2 and started Level 3 Animal Care training, following an exam route.
Appendix 1
List of websites for what’s on, potential volunteering opportunities, community groups & meet ups etc.
DW 10/1/23
National Trust Devon events:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/search?type=event&query=devon&lat=50.720015 &lon=-3.803525&page=3
Devon Wildlife Trust events:
https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/events
Devon Wildlife Trust volunteering opportunities: https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/volunteering-opportunities
Visit Devon what’s on:
https://www.visitdevon.co.uk/whats-on
South Devon what’s on:
https://www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/whats-on
Mid Devon what’s on:
https://www.visitmiddevon.co.uk/events/
North Devon and Exmoor what’s on:
https://www.visitdevon.co.uk/northdevon/whats-on
Plough Arts Centre what’s on & drama group:
https://www.theploughartscentre.org.uk/whats-on/diary
Our Plymouth Volunteer Opportunities:
https://ourplymouth.co.uk/volunteer-opportunity
Time bank South West:
https://www.timebanksw.org/swapportunities/
Lifeworks youth club:
https://lifeworks-uk.org/community-projects/youth-club/
Exeter Community Builders: https://communitybuilders.eci.org.uk/
Teignmouth- huge amount of community events and groups links here: https://devoncf.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/12/Teignmouth.pdf?dm_i=1T5M,85QOU,9EX1J4,XFOUH,1
Drewsteignton:- huge amount of community events and groups links here: https://devoncf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DrewsteigntonPAL.pdf?dm_i=1T5M,85QOU,9EX1J4,XFOUH,1
YES! Brixham- young volunteers https://www.bxyes.org.uk/young-volunteers
Devon Connect: https://devonconnect.org/
Devon Voluntary Action: http://www.devonva.org/about_us
Hello Kingsbridge- what’s on https://hellokingsbridge.co.uk/events
Devon library events/meet up groups etc across the county:https://www.devonlibraries.org.uk/web/arena/events
List of Devon Repair Cafes & what’s on: https://www.recycledevon.org/reuse/repair-cafe