April 2019
As part of the Empowering Enterprise project, DCT was asked to provide support to Dame Kelly Holmes Trust in its work with eight young people on a three-week skills building course, Get on Track. Participants are NEETs (not in education, employment or training) and are hardest to reach and/or furthest from the labour market. Get on Track is an intensive confidence and employablity skills course and DCT was asked to utilise our local contacts to identify large organisations that are looking to take on volunteers, and to source workplace visits for the participants.
We successfully secured workplace visits for the young people at two organisations: Ride on Cycling, a social enterprise working towards making cycling accessible for everyone; and The Salvation Army Donation Centre, which is an Exeter-based charity shop and local donation centre.
IMPACT
Eight young people were supported to move forward in their journey towards employment, education or training. A number felt that the experience had helped them to better understand what they would like to do in the future and that their confidence levels had increased as a result of the visits.
Local social enterprises were also able to develop their skills and experiences around creating inclusive workplaces.
“It would be good to gain more experience because that helps you to get the next job. It was also good to look at what makes a prepared and professional person for interview and work.”
“We had a look around the workplace, met staff members and learnt about how they fix up and sell second-hand bikes. I’m interested in retail work and selling so it was good to be able to ask questions about working with customers.”
