CONEL ran over 300 employability programmes over the past year

Over the past year, the @CollegeNELondon employability team has run over 300 employability programmes, helping thousands of local people thrive as part of a greater initiative to support the local economy.

Here are just a few highlights of our employability work over the past year.

BAME into Employment:

In September, the team ran a ‘BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) into Employment’ course for two weeks. It saw participants improve their employability skills, including communication, collaboration and organizational skills.

As part of the programme, the students participated in industry-relevant work experience with a number of employers, including Bombardier, Cubic and Lanes Rail.

Student Tairat Shote said:

“It was an overwhelmingly positive programme. The employers were informative, accommodating and forthcoming with how they operate, and what they have on offer. Cubic, who I did my placement with, tailored the programme so that there was a lot for me to engage with. I had a very positive experience. At the end of the programme, I was really pleased with how easy the company made getting access to an interview, which I hope will result in a job.

“Finally, Julie my tutor has been extremely helpful and resourceful.”

Women in Construction:

For the last two years, CONEL has run a number of initiatives to help women access construction roles. Through our employability team, we ran a range of workshops to give women the knowledge and skills they needed for a successful career in this traditionally male-dominated industry.

Back in January 2018, CONEL and Transport for London (TfL) launched an employment programme to inspire women into construction and engineering careers. The college and TfL worked with not-for-profit organisation Women into Construction to run a pre-employment training programme with the aim of recruiting women into these industries. It was a great success and inspired the employability team to run more sessions, such as the recent Women into Construction programme, which has worked with three groups of students so far.

Also in partnership with Transport for London (and in support of the international ‘Women Into STEM’ movement), CONEL has run a Women into Transportation and Engineering Pre-Employment Programme (WiTnE), which had 22 participants. All learners who attended their work placements as part of the programme were guaranteed interviews with their employers if they wanted full-time work at a later date. The event was a success for students and employers alike, and four learners: Chelsea, Fiona, Catherine and Vanesha, were even fast-tracked to the second round of interviews in their applications with Arriva Rail.

Sophia Nicola from Transport for London (TfL) congratulated CONEL and partners for the successful delivery of the WiTnE pre-employment programme, saying that:

“The candidates completed the programme with a greater appreciation of the transportation and engineering sectors, and the opportunities that are available, regardless of gender.”

As well as these partnership initiatives, CONEL also runs FREE short courses specifically for women aiming to get into construction: https://www.conel.ac.uk/for-learners/professional-courses.html

Get into Transportation:

The ‘Get into Transportation’ programme started in October 2019 and was designed by CONEL, Transport for London, HS2, Heathrow and NSAR (The National Skills Academy for Rail) to help unemployed Londoners kick-start their careers in transportation. This sector-wide programme offers two weeks of pre-employment training, which focuses on getting candidates ready for work, followed by a two-week work placement at one of a number of different organisations supplying these key transport sector clients.

Placements are available for both site and office-based roles and are matched as closely as possible to the needs and wants of the individual students. Upon successful completion of the programme, students are guaranteed an interview or assessment for vacancies that the participating employers have.

CONEL also ran ‘Go Ahead London’ last year, a programme with Transport for London (TfL) designed to help people get into careers with TfL. 18 CONEL learners were on the programme, of whom 16 were fast-tracked into assessment, getting them closer to that all-important job.

London Ambulance Service:

CONEL ran a Maths and English course for 28 London Ambulance Service technicians who needed Functional Skills qualifications to become paramedics. The course was delivered by CONEL at Unison’s offices in Central London and all 28 learners achieved their qualification.

Head of Employability at CONEL, Shiv Emmimath, said, “Mark from London Ambulance Service (LAS) approached us to see if we can help some of his colleagues with Functional Skills. These learners work for the London Ambulance Service and not having a Functional Skills certificate would disadvantage them from progressing within the service to become paramedics.

“Mark worked tirelessly behind the scenes, organising open days and marketing this great opportunity to his colleagues. He organised a fantastic group of learners who were determined to do their course with us. These learners – who have very busy work schedules and long hours at LAS – made a commitment to the college that they would attend and complete the course. Mark played a huge part in coordinating things, arranging rooms in central London and constantly keeping track of his colleagues attending their course. We’re delighted that all the students on the course fully achieved both Maths and English.”

The London Ambulance Service won a CONEL Employer Excellence Award this year as a result of this project.

Tottenham Hotspur Foundation:

Over the last year, CONEL has been working closely with the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, which has a commitment to supporting their local community. CONEL is currently working with the Foundation on three projects:

1. Functional Skills and Customer Service courses for the local community, with job opportunities at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium.
2. Build Enfield Project – CONEL and the Foundation are delivering this fantastic community-based project in the heart of Enfield to deliver jobs, work placements and apprenticeships.
3. Spectator Safety Training for Stadium Stewards – CONEL will be delivering the Spectator Safety training for match day staff employed by the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation was also an award winner at the CONEL 2019 Excellence Awards.

Coming up:

CONEL’s employability team are halfway through their 1st cohort of delivering an NVQ Level 2 in Spectator Safety to a group of Premium Stewards at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This is an exciting project that further enhances the college’s excellent partnership with Tottenham Hotspur FC.

We have also started delivery of our Enfield Council European Social Fund (ESF) project to help Enfield residents into local jobs. The £500,000 project has been designed to get unemployed people in Enfield into construction to meet the demand of the local workforce.