Connect Northumberland unites employers to enhance local workforce and youth opportunities

Providing greater employment choice for Northumberland’s young people and economically inactive individuals

Having spent the last year offering leadership development support to 175 individuals from more than 30 employers, Connect Northumberland is now working on designing two pilot projects to support workforce and student aspirations.

The first, aimed at accelerating Newcastle United Foundation’s work on employability in the region, will involve employers in the Connect Northumberland alliance working with schools.

The second, also alongside the Foundation, will provide employability support for those who are economically inactive.

At a roundtable, held at Hirst Welfare Centre, in Ashington, which is home to Newcastle United Foundation’s latest hub, multi-sector employer leaders came together to discuss and co-design two programmes being delivered by the Foundation in the autumn.

The intervention was informed by research that shows Northumberland faces a major challenge from the migration of young people, with a 20 per cent shortfall in the available workforce augmented by 10,000 economically inactive individuals who say they want to work.

The discussion was opened by Steve Beharall, chief executive of Newcastle United Foundation, who stressed the importance of working with the Connect Northumberland employer base to strengthen the Foundation’s work – and its impact – in Northumberland.

He added: “Our Futures programme has been running for four years, during which time we have engaged with more than 200 employers annually and seen 10,000 young people aged between 11 and 15 access the programme.

“The success rate for supporting young people into employment is 86 per cent, and we’re excited to accelerate this through collaboration with Connect Northumberland.”

Will the two programmes help cross-sector working?

There was widespread agreement among employers – who represented the public, private and voluntary sectors – that these programmes built on the cross-sector awareness and knowledge the leadership programmes had started.

Participants also highlighted the issue of geography.

Marianne Whitfield, director of development at MSP, said: “The thrust of this should be location, rather than working cross-sector.

“Is there any point in doing something if the people can’t easily get to the jobs?”

Employers highlighted the need to cluster employers together based on location, and prioritise solving transport costs.

Kevin Haddrick, head of corporate social responsibility at Bernicia, which has helped fund the Ashington hub, said: “These pilots will work.

“They’re building on, and accelerating, the work that’s already being done; we know it works, we just need more employers to get involved.”

Rochelle Gonsalves, senior practitioner – widening participation, at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The trust is committed to raising aspirations and widening access to opportunities across the communities we serve.

“Our people are at the heart of everything we do, and we want to have a workforce representative of our community while building a healthy talent pipeline.

“The two pilot projects by Connect Northumberland and Newcastle United Football Club align seamlessly to our Community Promise, the trust’s pledge to focus on five themes – employment, education, economy, environment and inequalities – to improve people’s lives and have an even larger impact for everyone who lives and works in the area and wider region.”

 

• Liz Mayes, Connect Northumberland chief executive

 

Are the pilot programmes missing anything, and are there any barriers to participation?

Timescales were noted as one of the greatest barriers to getting involved, as was successful engagement with schools.

Brian Palmer, chair of Connect Northumberland and founder of Tharsus, said: “A priority is for us to really understand the barriers preventing schools engagement.”

David Lambert, managing director of Raytec, added: “I run one of the region’s most successful start-ups of the last 20 years, but I haven’t been approached by one school.

“The other problem is that we have real issues retaining talented individuals who are in their 30s.”

This was given added importance when placed against the backdrop of big brand names’ ease at attracting multiple applications compared to the struggles of smaller companies.

The apprenticeship example, said participants, proves the appetite young people have for work, with the group discussing sharing talent across employers through measures such as aggregating apprenticeships.

Warick Stephenson, associate principal at Northumberland College, added: “It is important this programme has fair access for young people across the county and is inclusive not exclusive”.

The discussion then turned to school engagement activity and how schools would find out about the programme, with Newcastle United Foundation sharing how it has already worked with more than 200 schools.

Members were also told the pilots were not happening in isolation, with Connect Northumberland having strong support from Northumberland County Council and playing an active role in the emergent County Partnership.

How can the Connect Northumberland team help reduce barriers and support Northumberland’s employers?

Marianne said: “Keep doing what you are doing – keep promoting and bringing more employers into the community.

“The more employers present at events means more knowledge sharing.”

The group also said the involvement of more start-ups and SMEs would be beneficial.

Stephen Byard, principal research fellow at Quotient Sciences, added: “There is potential for this group to define a new tomorrow, to help retain skilled employees as well as offering opportunities to the wider community.”

www.connectnorthumberland.org