The Council’s Vocational Training Project Team members continue to work to strengthen the links between education, training and the needs of the local economy both present and future. The Council and the local training providers who sit on the Project Team recognise that a focus on vocational and knowledge based programmes designed with employers in mind is the key to maintaining a competitive local economy. Lisburn City Council Skills Survey 2002, which was undertaken by Glenwood Business Centre and funded by the Council, aims to identify a range of training solutions to provide the framework around which employee training needs can be addressed in future years.
The Council’s Adult Learning and Skills Implementation Programme 2001 has had a major impact in encouraging women returners, the long term unemployed, part time and low paid workers and the disabled to enrol in a wide range of training and education programmes, which they may not normally have access to through mainstream provision. The high numbers of participants registered for the Council funded vocational training initiatives is in itself a testament to the demand and interest in the provision of such training particularly in rural parts of Lisburn where access to training can be limited. The Council also contributed to the cost of producing a ‘Guide to Adult Learning Week’ in May 2001 and played a key role in co-ordinating local events to encourage would -be learners to sample a wide range of training courses that were on offer throughout Lisburn.
The Lisburn Learndirect Partnership, which delivers flexible online training courses in Lisburn, is now the ‘top performing’ Learndirect centre in Northern Ireland based on figures compiled by the Department of Employment and Learning (DEL). Lisburn Learndirect Partnership is made up of a consortia of local training providers and the two local enterprise agencies, Lisburn Enterprise Organisation Ltd and Glenwood Business Centre. Registered Learndirect users in Lisburn have now reached 1,800 with a wide range of users targeted from marginalized groups in the local community. A dedicated Programme Managers post was funded for one year by the Council and DEL, which enabled funding of £70,000 to be sourced from the New Opportunities Fund (NOF). Recently the project was awarded £140,000 of additional funding, from DEL which will sustain this important learning facility over the next two years and ensure access continues to be Citywide.
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Members of the Councils Vocational Training project Team, Joanne Coulter Lisburn YMCA, Jim Donaghy Lisburn Institute, Berny Daly Dairyfarm Training, Stephanie Garvin ATLAS, Michael Smyth Graham Training, and Chairman of the Project Team, Councillor Bill Gardner Watson, launch the new "guide to Adult Learners Week" in May 2001. |
The Lifelong Learning IT Outreach project has improved literacy and IT skills in TSN areas. This innovative mobile IT Outreach Programme, jointly delivered by Lisburn Institute and ATLAS (formerly Lisburn Women’s Centre) has enabled over 600 Lisburn residents to undertake IT training made possible through the purchase of lap top computers by the Council and DEL. This figure includes 360 participants from rural areas. The number of trainees undertaking more than one training course in rural areas has taken the number of individual courses completed up to 392. Council funding of this initiative has sustained 3 jobs within ATLAS and allowed Lisburn Institute to employ a full time project technician.
The Adult Learning Centre at Footprints Womens Centre has enabled 200 women to attend training courses where they are offered a clear progression route into employment and further education. Footprints have also created 6 new jobs in the Centre itself with 6 more jobs anticipated for later in 2002.
The local retail and hospitality sector based Customer Services Programme saw a further 13 businesses and 16 trainees successfully achieve NVQ 1 & 2 in Customer Services. Dairyfarm Training Services provided training and mentoring to enable these companies to have a greater awareness of how to identify and meet customer needs.
Growing recognition of the value of achieving the prestigious Investors in People Charter mark, has led to a demand by local companies for a second Investors In People Group Scheme. Currently 12 companies from a diverse range of business sectors are working with Dairyfarm Training services to devise and implement Individual Company Development Plans.
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Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, Councillor Peter O'Hagan presents Learndirect completion certificates to trainees at the Lisburn Learndirect centre located at Dairyfarm training. |
The YMCA Learning Disabled Training Programme funded by the Council and the Down and Lisburn Trust has enabled 8 adults with a learning disability to embark on personal development training which includes an employment placement and progression onto further education, training or community placements.
As part of a study into Public Internet Access Points, five local organisations participated in the Rich Voices project. Delivered by Buchanan Email, this pilot study examined the use of public internet access points across a broad spectrum of centres in Lisburn where the internet is available to the public. 15 participants who did not have access to the internet at home were able to give valuable feedback on their experiences of using the internet at these venues and the likelihood of accessing government services, taking part in online consultations or doing business online.
