ILM Initiatives

For more than 10 years the Association has been active in ensuring training and employment opportunities are created from our investment in our housing stock. At the moment, in both East and North Ayrshire, we have intermediate labour market initiatives in place with colleagues in other housing associations – Atrium Homes, Irvine Housing Association and ANCHO – which provide temporary employment in landscaping and fencing work for 22 unemployed people at a time.

Intermediate Labour Market Projects

Our ILM projects use the Wise Group’s Intermediate Labour Market (ILM) model, providing a bridge between unemployment and the mainstream labour market for unemployed local residents. The projects primarily target the over 25, short-term unemployed, who have been out of work for between 6 and 12 months and live in some of the most disadvantaged areas in North and East Ayrshire.  

The projects have the following key components in common:

• Recruitment/ initial assessment and action planning.
  
• Vocational and core skills training including formal training towards an SVQ Level 2
  
• Core employability skills – ICT, Problem solving, Teamwork and Interpersonal Skills, Administration and Communication.
  
• Personal and social development
• Work experience. The cornerstone of the projects, the works involve a broad menu of environmental improvements delivered to occupational standards in a supportive but real work setting.
  
• Job search/ guidance.
  
• Aftercare for up to 6 months including jobs matching & referral and continuation of lifelong learning through completion of web-based learning packages.

East Ayrshire ILM

The East Ayrshire ILM project has been running since Dec 2005 as a partnership between Cunninghame Housing Association, Atrium Homes and The Wise Group. It provides 10 temporary employment places for unemployed people from officially recognised regeneration areas in East Ayrshire. The temporary employees work on landscaping and fencing work on properties managed by Atrium Homes and Cunninghame Housing Association in Nether Robertland in Stewarton and in Longpark in Kilmarnock respectively. The project aims to support up to 30 individuals over its 2 year duration

At the end of December 2007, with 3 months of the project remaining, results have been as follows;

• 27 people had completed the project
  
• 19 beneficiaries have achieved full GBO Level 2
  
• A further 17 beneficiaries have partly completed their VQ
  
• 12 beneficiaries have gone into employment after leaving the programme, with a forecast for a further 12 to do the same by Summer 2008.

North Ayrshire ILM

The North Ayrshire ILM started in November 2006 as a partnership between Cunninghame Housing Association, ANCHO, Irvine HA and the Wise Group. It provides 12 temporary employment opportunities over 2 years for unemployed people in North Ayrshire. The temporary employees are undertaking fencing and hard landscaping works to enhance the local environment for residents of properties within the management of ANCHO, Cunninghame and Irvine Housing Associations in Kilwinning and Dalry respectively.   The project aims to support up to 36 individuals over its 109 week duration.

By the end of December 2007 the project was half way through the works programme. Achievements to date are as follows:

• To date 25 people have started the programme and 9 have completed it
• 11 beneficiaries have achieved full SVQ Level 2 to date and a further 6 have part VQs
• 8 of the 9 completers have moved on into employment

Contact Details

Further information on our Intermediate Labour Market initiatives can be obtained from:

Rosemary Fotheringham
Regeneration Officer
The Michael Lynch Centre for Enterprise
71 Princes Street
Ardrossan
Ayrshire
KA22 8DG
 

Tel: 01294 606045

Email: rfotheringham@chaltd.org

Funding Acknowledgement

Cunninghame Housing Association would like to acknowledge the support of our funding partners without whom the development of our Intermediate Labour Market initiative programme would not have been possible :- 

• Communities Scotland
  
• European Objective 3 Programme 2000-2006
  
• North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership
  
• East Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership
  
• Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire