TCHC Group Building Better Opportunities Enterprising People Programme focused on supporting people with complex or multiple barriers to find employment. The programme funded by The National Lottery Community Fund/ESF has recently undergone evaluation and the reports can be viewed by clicking on the links below. 

"The Social Return on Investment ratio for the Enterprising People programme is for every £1 spent £11.23 of social value is created."

To view the SEMLEP SROI Report, please click here.

"A programme that did exceptionally good work with the economically inactive."

"Changed a large number of people's lives for the better."

To view the Evaluation of the Building Better Opportunities SEMLEP Enterprising People Programme please click here.

"I couldn’t fault the support and encouragement I got from Claudette who was my mentor throughout my time on the project. She gave me the self-belief and support I needed to help push my business forwards and finally get it off the ground. She listened to my ideas, and we worked very well together." Early Years Alliance (EYA) - Jena

“The support from the SABA Network has been unlike any other project I’ve been a part of. It reflected my circumstances and guided me to successfully get the resources needed to start make a start.” SABA (Society for the advancement of Black Arts) - Denise

To view Enterprising People Programme Case Studies please click here.

What is the Baker Clause?

TCHC Group Building Better Opportunities Community Connections North Programme focused on supporting people with complex or multiple barriers to find employment. The programme funded by The National Lottery Community Fund/ESF has recently undergone evaluation and the reports can be viewed by clicking on the links below. 

"The Social Return on Investment ratio for the GCGP programme is for every £1 spent £10.11 of social value is created."

To view the GCGP SROI Report, please click here.

"A resilient and resourceful partnership that continued to deliver and support the participants throughout the pandemic."

"A high performing programme which changed hundreds of people’s lives for the better."

To view the Evaluation of the Building Better Opportunities GCGP Community Connection North Programme please click here.

"The support and training I have received is very good. It has helped me to grow as a person and help overcome the barriers I had at the beginning when I first joined." The Ferry Project - Sarah

"It has helped me and my sister and given invaluable support. Funding like this has made a great difference to my journey. 99% of my recovery are down to Headway Cambridgeshire and the people who worked for them. They have been brilliant.“ Headway - Marie

To view Community Connections North Programme Case Studies please click here.

3 Apprenticeships To Consider Kickstarting Your Career

Since 2020 and the pandemic the job market has changed dramatically, and many businesses have struggled whereas others haven’t been affected as much. The unemployment rate fell to 5% which is the lowest record to date, with over 750,000 jobs being lost as companies had to cut costs where they could.

The demographic for the younger generation was hit hard as school leavers and those after part time jobs struggled to get employed in areas such as hospitality and retail, which are the sectors which have been hit the hardest by the national lockdown. 

However, the job market seems to be getting back on track and most importantly apprentices are wanted even more now as this is a way of employers employing in more of a cost-effective way. An apprenticeship is an amazing way to kickstart your chosen career, within this article we will discuss the benefits of an apprenticeship to the apprentice and the employer and 3 top Gov approved apprenticeships to consider.

Benefits to becoming an apprentice

There are many benefits to becoming an apprentice, regardless of age and qualifications you can become an apprenticeship and be ahead of the game. Within apprenticeships you learn and progress with your career and even get paid at the same time, allowing the healthy balance of study as well as working. If you’re a hands-on person an apprenticeship is right for you and a great alternative to university where you will have your head in the books with no real-life experience. You also build upon the essential skills needed to advance in your career and receive a qualification at the end of completion and at least 1 years’ experience.

Since covid-19 apprenticeships have been the chosen route instead of the traditional path to university, this way you will not be getting into any debt and avoid learning over zoom calls which has been taking place since lockdowns, which was hard on most students as they never got to live the fun, proactive uni life.

Lastly, within the apprenticeship you can grow your network within your industry as you will be working alongside professionals, gaining that valuable experience. This is also a great way to expand your opportunities and open doors along the way. If you can prove that you are hardworking, determined and driven this will go a long way and people will remember you for that.  

Benefits of an apprentice to the employer

There are several reasons as to why employers would benefit from hiring an apprentice, as well as the financial incentives there are many other benefits including training the individual in a certain way to suit your business in the best way. Allowing a business to develop a new generation of workforce and to bring new, fresh ideas to the table.

IT & DIGITAL

The future is digital. Having good IT & digital skills will put you in a really good position and allow you to offer your help to keep modern day businesses, large and small to run effectively and profitably. Especially offering services to e-commerce retail companies to provide technological solutions to customers and staff.

There are many different career paths you can work towards within this industry including, software, system analytics, Cybersecurity and data analysis. One of the higher-level apprenticeships you can complete is a network engineer level 4, where the role includes to design, maintain, and support communication networks within organisations. The apprenticeships provide knowledge and training in network configuration, cloud and network administration, enabling a network engineer to give technical assistant and guidance.

This industry is great to get into currently as technology is becoming more advanced each year, and this is the area where most companies struggle the most and need to invest in a workforce which can support this, meaning there will never be a shortage of jobs within this industry.

AAT ACCOUNTANCY

Accounting apprenticeships are an effective route to a career within accountancy, an AAT qualification is very sought after and highly recognised in this industry as well as the high-quality experience you gain during the apprenticeship.

The main role of an assistant accountant is to provide support to internal and external customer, working within the financial function of the organisation. Day to day tasks include, data entry to month end management accounts, year end financial statements and the regulatory financial requirements.

A higher-level apprenticeship within this industry is the professional accountant/taxation technician, this job role involves creating and reviewing financial information performed to meet relevant ethical, professional, and legal standards.

The benefits to undertaking a AAT apprenticeship, will allow you to gain the real life experience and skills which are highly in demand by employers, making you capable to solving real world business issues. Also, this is a fast-track way to get into the industry and facilitates you with the knowledge and qualifications for the entry in further certificates.

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Lastly, the last apprenticeship to consider to kickstart your career is leadership and management, this is a universal skill which will be effective in any industry and business which is why it is so desirable. Quality leadership ensures effective and efficient work practices within the business, including managing teams and how departments work in order to be efficient and to boost productivity.

Operations and Departmental Manager Level 5

The higher-level apprenticeship available is the operations and departmental manager level 5, this will include managing teams, responsibility for planning, delivering and achieving the business goals and responsible for the delivery of the organisation’s strategy.

There are many benefits to this industry, it provides a great opportunity to develop creative thinking, and your job role will lead to the development of culture within an organisation which can be very rewarding. Also, by you investing into the development of employees this can have a positive impact on the workplace and create a productive workforce, benefiting the business as a whole and creating a return on investment.

Overall, there are many benefits to becoming an apprentice and many different apprenticeships to consider to kickstart your career and allow you to develop high-quality real-life experience. Start your dream career now, there’s no better time than today.