View publication - Chartered Institute of Housing

SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY THROUGH EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
Wolverhampton Homes supporting the community through
local employment and training
By Shaun Aldis, Director of Property Services at Wolverhampton Homes
Summary
Wolverhampton Homes has always been passionate about ‘making a
difference’ in the communities in which we work. Wolverhampton Homes has
worked within the network of Skills Academy projects and has demonstrated
its ability to deliver training and employment interventions across a range of
outputs from schools engagement, work placements, apprenticeships, NVQs
and business development. This article illustrates some of our outstanding
achievements, transforming life and work opportunities for individuals living
in our communities.
About the Wolverhampton Decent Homes partnership
Wolverhampton Homes was contracted alongside three construction partners to deliver
Decent Homes improvements in Wolverhampton. However, due to high unemployment
levels and poor attrition rates of school leavers in the area, Wolverhampton Homes was
keen to provide a value added element to this work by ‘supporting the community
through local employment and training’. To support this goal, we applied for National
Skills Academy for Construction (NSAfC) status. The NSAfC is delivered by CITB, the
Sector Skills Council for the construction industry and is a project-based training concept
tailored to helping clients and contractors develop the right skills on site. 63
Wolverhampton Homes was successful in its bid which became effective from July 2008
and reached completion in June 2012.
All members of the partnership were committed to improving the skills bases of our
workforce and to providing employment and development opportunities for local people
in the Wolverhampton area. The broad scope of the programme has offered wide
ranging opportunities for training and employment, which has helped to realise our
vision that ‘success comes from people’.
NSAfC status has helped us raise the profile of our efforts with local politicians and
people. It has also enabled us to place greater emphasis on improving the skills level of
the existing workforce through the supply chain. Additionally, it has opened doors to
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