Approved People & Skills Projects in Sunderland

Below are details of the 4 projects being delivered under the People & Skills Investment Priority. Should you require any further information, please contact us at ukspf@sunderland.gov.uk.

People & Skills: Support for Residents who are Economically Inactive and Seeking Work

Wise Group Relational Mentoring (Sunderland)

Delivery Organisation: The Wise Group

Delivery Partners: Pallion Action Group

The project will continue to deliver free-to-access, holistic, and evidenced Relational Mentoring support to economically inactive people with multiple barriers to employment in the Sunderland City Council area. By working with people across a diverse set of needs, ranging from housing, wellbeing, health and heating, multiple barriers can be tackled at once to give people the foundations to move forward with their lives.

Customers are matched with a locally based and experienced mentor, working compassionately and 1:1 to support them in identifying their specific barriers, developing a bespoke plan with key interventions, and creating a personalised journey with individual goals. Customer benefit entitlements are not affected by participation in the service.

Each journey is unique, but examples of support can include:

• Access to counselling and mental health support
• Advocacy and support with finance, benefits and debt
• Basic and life skills training, including Maths and English qualifications
• Personal wellbeing, self-esteem and confidence-building activities
• Energy advice and advocacy, including access to crisis funding
• CV writing, job search, volunteering and work experience
• Signposting to other suitable services in the community

Eligibility:

Economically inactive residents in receipt of any disability/sickness benefits, carers, lone parents in the non-work group, people not in receipt of benefits.

Must be a resident in the Sunderland City Council area.

Wise Group Relational Mentoring (Sunderland) leaflet

Link to referral form: https://portal.thewisegroup.co.uk/sunderland-referral/

People & Skills: Improving skills to progress in work and responding to local skills needs

Sunderland Skills and Inclusion Programme (SSIP)

Delivery Organisation: University of Sunderland

Delivery Partners: Access Training, SETA, Education Partnership North East (Sunderland College), Sunderland Software City, Training in Care

Overview of project:

The Sunderland Skills and Inclusion Programme (SSIP) responds to an identified need to upskill Sunderland employees and businesses, addressing low productivity, lack of competitiveness, high levels of in-work benefits and missed opportunities for Sunderland residents to contribute fully to the economy. The aims of SSIP are threefold:

• To respond to employer skills needs across priority areas identified in the Local Skills Improvement Plan, driving productivity and competitiveness in key sectors for the Sunderland economy;
• To develop business management skills amongst SMEs in particular, and especially focusing on digital technologies, supporting SMEs to develop and grow;
• To support inclusion of diverse groups within the economy, through support for employers and employees to maximise the benefits of a diverse workforce.

SSIP includes a range of consortium partners, selected to reflect a range of specialisms, employer and community connections, as follows:

• University of Sunderland (consortium lead) providing:

               - higher level skills in Artificial Intelligence, use of advanced technology in manufacturing and creative industries

               - business strategy, leadership and marketing

               - desktop applications, business and management and leadership training through MTC Training

               - equality and diversity masterclasses and short courses with a particular focus on LGBTQ+

• SETA providing a complementary range of technical skills for the engineering and manufacturing industries
• Sunderland College providing skills support for construction, manufacturing and low carbon industries
• Access Training Ltd delivering leadership and management with a digital focus, supported by mental health and disability support
• Training in Care Ltd supporting specialist provision in the health and social care sectors.

Contact: Bev Trees, Ross Waldie or Mike Jurowski

Email address: skills@sunderland.ac.uk

Project Name: Training for Growth

Delivery Organisation: North East Automotive Alliance

Delivery Partners: Education Partnership North East

The Training for Growth pilot aims to create a comprehensive framework to boost the number of technical apprenticeships in Sunderland.

Why the need?

Local technical skills availability represents a significant risk to business productivity and is a potential constraint to future growth.

This initiative is designed to address the future investment needs of the area by enhancing the skill levels of the local workforce. Through this pilot, residents will gain greater access to advanced apprenticeship programmes, which in turn will lead to higher qualifications, better job prospects, and increased wages. This systemic approach is intended to foster sustainable economic growth and improve the overall quality of life in the community.

This pilot is directly aligned with the priorities outlined in the North East Local Skills Improvement Plan (NELSIP) and has been shaped by comprehensive analyses conducted over several years by local stakeholders.

The opportunity

The Training for Growth pilot brings together businesses, employer bodies, and training providers to address the critical shortage of technical skills in Sunderland and the wider North East region, particularly within the advanced manufacturing sector and net-zero technologies.

The pilot will provide financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sunderland to enable them to take on technical apprenticeships (Level 3) as part of the September 2024 intake. This support will contribute to the additional costs that employers will incur in the first year of the programme.

Contact: Joe Routledge - jroutledge@northeastautomotivealliance.com

Weblink: https://northeastautomotivealliance.com/neaa-projects/training-for-growth-pilot/

SkillStart Sunderland

Delivery Organisation: Sunderland City Council (Learning and Skills Service)

Delivery Partners: TBA (procurement progress ongoing)

Overview of project:SkillStart Sunderland aims to bridge the gap between formal skills qualifications and the real-world expectations and requirements of employers and society. Building on the successful foundations laid by the Multiply (adult numeracy) initiative, SkillStart will equip participants with practical, baseline life skills in numeracy, literacy, digital literacy and the increasingly essential soft skills. This initiative will enable participants to thrive in the workplace and contribute meaningfully to the community. By providing a controlled, extensive, wraparound intervention, SkillStart will address work-based and societal skill deficits, supporting learners onto more formal learning provision, for example, Functional Skills qualifications or employment.

Contact: Rob McEwan

Email address: ​​​​​​​rob.mcewan@sunderland.gov.uk