Unemployed people in the Accrington and Rossendale areas are
being given a chance to learn new skills thanks to a government scheme known as
Job Centre Plus. The schemes run by North Lancs Training Group allow unemployed
people to take part in a course of learning that will give them skills to
encourage potential new employers to consider employing them.
North Lancs Training Group Furniture and Glass tutors Martin
Kelly and Richard Bulcock run some of the courses available which include
furniture manufacture and upholstery as well as decorative lead glass
processes. Martin who is also the COVE manager at NLTG said “ the courses where
developed to try and encourage both long term and short term employed people to
consider taking on new skills, a lot of these people don’t realise that there
are careers available in glass and in furniture and the courses give a taster of what the career is about, we also
find that it does bring out artistic and other skills in people that they don’t
realise that they have “. Richard commented “ The attendees seem to really
grasp the skills needed to create a design in decorative lead, a design
sometimes personal to themselves and then are amazed when they find they can
create it themselves, the quality of the finished product so far has been
excellent and to see how proud they are when they get to take the product home
with them is worth the while “.
Employers linked to North Lancs Training Group have also been
willing to assist in the courses by providing, in some cases free of charge
resources such as pieces of toughened glass, NLTG Glass centre co ordinator
Paul Fairhurst said “ we want to thank people such as Regency Glass and Glass Craft
for their support of the courses and their promise to provide the glass free of
charge, its great that they want become involved”.
NLTG course tutor Richard Bulcock who runs the courses said “
most of the unemployed people who attend come here with a wish to learn
something new, they seem to enjoy the courses we run and are amazed at what
they produce at the end of it, they certainly leave here having learned a new
skill, they create their own designs and get to keep the item thay make on
completion, the feedback we get is excellent”.
Course attendees achieve a level 1 qualification which is a
bonus to include on a CV and also learn interview skills, working relationship
skills and also get to improve their maths and English whilst on the courses.
