Please see below a link to a recent article published on Deadline pertaining to our Employability4All program:
Barnardo’s helping youngsters in job hunt with employability service (deadlinenews.co.uk)
For more information on Employability4All and the other programmes we provide in Perth& Kinross, please visit our webpage.
Please see linked below our E4A Research Scotland Evaluation Report:
E4A Research Scotland Evaluation – Final Report
For more information on Employability4All and the other programmes we provide in Perth& Kinross, please visit our webpage.
Jordyn joined our Explore and B’Leave programme in June 2022. This programme was developed in response to the covid-19 pandemic, and it focuses on supporting young people aged 15-18 to make the transition from school to post-school activity.
Having identified a long-term goal, to attend Dundee University in 2023 to study Computer Arts, Jordyn joined the programme to build her confidence, enhance her self- esteem and improve her social skills.
As part of her Personal Development Award Jordyn had to select an unfamiliar leisure activity to participate in.
To this end she chose an Art Workshop at Hospitalfield House; A Victorian House with a walled garden café and fernery dedicated to contemporary art and ideas.
Run by artist Sally Hackett as part of a long-term commission & part of the development, the blacksmith made a garden gate leading to the walled garden, entitled ‘Padlocks of Self-Love’.
The workshop encouraged us as individuals to celebrate love for ourselves in an act of creativity and expression. We created small icons and representations of our self in wax; which will be cast in brass and attached to the gate in the walled garden, to be kept as part of the permanent exhibition there.
Jordyn made a blue sea dragon and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.
Hayley Addams. Employer Liaison Officer at Barnardo’s Works Tayside. Supporting young people in Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross.
Date – August 2022
Local Authority – Dundee City
Programme(s) – E&B, F4W, EF2, 3 & MA at Buttons and Bows Nursery
Ellie is 16 years old. She is a trainee Early Years Practitioner at a local nursery studying for an MA / SCQF level 7 Qualification.
A typical day for Ellie within the Nursery involves; Ensuring that all the children booked in for that day attend the nursery. If anyone is missing, Ellie or another member of staff would contact the toddlers’ parents. Ellie then sets up the morning activities. She also retrieves a snack for each infant as per the daily made-up meal plans. After that, they then do a fun activity with the toddlers, such as messy play, art, play rom or whichever activity they choose.
During lunch time, Ellie and the other members of staff help distribute the toddlers’ lunches and assist them to eat it. The staff then clean up the toddlers as well as the nursery. For the children that want to have a sleep, they can do whereas the ones that do not are kept occupied such as doing puzzles and other similar activities.
At 1pm the infants that get collected by their parents. They are given a handover of what their son or daughter has done that day at the nursery by a member of staff. The staff then help tidy up the nursery and give handovers to the parents of the infants that stay on later once they are collected by their parents.
Ellie’s journey and experience to enable her to be where she is today is; Ellie joined the Barnardo’s Explore & B’Leave programme in March 2021. At that point, she was dis-engaged with school and engaging in risk taking behaviour. We worked with her to set some realistic goals and to explore career options. Ellie then moved on the Barnardo’s Fit for Work Programme where she attended sessions with MyBnk. These covered Budgeting, being Independent, Banking/Borrowing & Beyond Today. Ellie achieved an SCQF Level 4 Personal Money Management Award. She gained a lot from being on the programme and has decided that she wanted to return to school after the summer.
Ellie left school in December 2021; She then joined Barnardo’s EF2 programme in January 2022. Ellie completed her SCQF level 3 Steps to Work qualification. She also attended First Aid Training and a Care Mix Course. This included Protecting Vulnerable Groups, Infection Control and Administering Medication. Additionally, Ellie attended sessions with Y Dance. She also completed her SQA Personal Achievement Award (Bronze at SCQF Level 2) in Performing Arts.
Ellie progressed to Stage 3 at the end of March 2022. She completed her Certificate of Work Readiness Qualification in June 2022. She was matched to a work placement with a local nursery during her time on EF3. We received nothing but excellent feedback on Ellie during her time there. Ellie made such a great impact that the nursery, Buttons and Bows, that they have taken Ellie on via the Discover Work Employer Recruitment Incentive (Dundee City Council). Ellie has commenced her MA studies at the nursery since too. All of the above have been opportunities that Ellie has opened and created during her time over the last 2 years of being part of the young person’s guarantee with Barnardo’s.
What Ellie’s enjoys most about her current learning experience is that it has assisted immensely with Ellie’s confidence and anxiety. It has allowed Ellie to develop her work skills as well as gaining new Qualifications leading to Ellie’s current MA with the nursery. Ellie also feels that her current role as a trainee EYP is very rewarding looking after young children. She also feels a lot more productive each working day as Ellie now has a set routine instead of not knowing what to do with herself each day. Additionally she feels she has a lot more worth. Ellie also said that some parts of the job role are challenging, but she would not change anything about it.
The support Ellie has received through the Young Persons Guarantee from Donna and Bobbi from the Employability team at Barnardo’s in Dundee
“Without both of them I would never have achieved as much as I have today or be where I am at this present moment in time, studying for my dream career in becoming a paediatric nurse in the future. Donna and Bobbi, both supported me and encouraged me to follow my dreams as well an enabling me to become so much more confident and self-resilient, I am so thankful and appreciative of them both and the time and belief they both gave me.”
“The skills I have developed are endless; time management from being in my current MA having to be ready to get the bus each day into work, my confidence as previously mentioned has come on leaps and bounds, my communicational skills, my teamworking skills with working alongside my colleagues at the nursery. All of these will assist me in the future too.”
The barriers Ellie has faced are Ellies anxiety and confidence as she has always struggled with them both. However with all the support Ellie has received she does not feel that they are barriers now.
Ellie wishes to study paediatric nursing at Dundee University and become a nurse in the not-so-distant future. Ellie also wishes to share her success and experience with other local teenagers and young people within Dundee and surrounding areas to not let your barriers, or weaknesses get in the way and just go for it and join one of the Barnardo’s programmes as look at the success Ellie has created in reaching a positive destination and sustainable employment.
Barnardo’s Works Tayside supports young people in Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross.
Barnardo’s is delighted to be part of the ‘All In Dundee’ Consortium. Jenny Stewart, our Employability Coordinator, leads on the Parental Employment Support programme, working with employed parents (from low-income families) and their employers to enhance working parents’ skills; to help them to secure new opportunities/progress within the workplace; ultimately supporting parents and their families out of poverty, which is even more critical when we are now in a ‘cost of living’ crisis.
Employers will benefit from this programme, by being involved in upskilling their workforce, along with improving employee mental health and wellbeing. There can also be access, if needed, to an upskill fund to support any training/qualifications of value to the employee and employer if this will result in in-work progression. We also have access to unemployed parents who are work ready, so can also help to support with some of your recruitment requirements! We would love to hear from local employers to discuss your needs and how we can work together to upskill and add value to your workforce.
You can read a case study highlighting a recent success of a parent moving into employment here.
We can be contacted at ann.naughton@barnardos.org.uk (Ann – 07562 436256) for more information.
Head To Work is a project which utilises a “youth work” approach to engaging 15–24-year-olds who are living in employment deprived areas, unemployed and at risk of offending/re-offending.
This project focuses on their:
Previous participants have been involved in gardening, graffiti art, dance, walking challenges, etc. and participants can also work towards a range of qualifications. e.g., SQA Money Management, Personal Development Award, etc.
by Donna Reilly; Project 2 Worker at Barnardo’s Works Tayside
Ana joined the Parental Employment Support Fund (PES) programme in March this year. She was referred to us as she had applied for an administrator role within our team but had been unsuccessful. She met with her employability coordinator discussed her circumstances.
Ana had moved 7 years ago to Scotland from Catalonia. She felt that in the 7 years she had been out of work that she had lost confidence and that her mental health had suffered during Covid-19. She also had never attended an interview in Scotland. Though Ana has a high level of English, she was very anxious about communicating at interviews.
Previously in Barcelona she had worked on many projects within children’s services with Save the Children, the Red Cross, and nurseries. Since coming to Scotland she had only worked on a self-employed freelance basis as a graphic designer and had also been volunteering in a charity shop.
Since having her children she had decided that she would like to work in an office-based role. Ana is a mum of 3 children and was looking to move back into work and regain a sense of identity out with “mum”.
Ana built in confidence through her meetings with her employability coordinator. Through these meetings she was able to have opportunities to update her CV, discuss her skills experience and knowledge, talk through any worries, and be supported with regular job searches. Through this Ana also gained more confidence, motivation, and self-belief in herself.
When Ana felt prepared and able to start her job, she was booked on an information season at the job centre about the roles available at Social Security Scotland. After this she applied for one of these roles. She was supported through all 3 stages of the application process. This involved her being taught the STAR method and how she could use this within interviews. Ana passed Stage 1 and Stage 2, but sadly she was unsuccessful at the video interview stage. This was very disappointing to Ana. But due to the resilience and self-belief she had built due to her continuing to engage with her employability coordinator she was able to get straight back to her job search.
Ana was then informed by her employability coordinator of an open day at Embark. Ana went down to hand in her CV. Upon arriving at Embark she was informed that a candidate had not turned up for their interview so did she want an interview right now. This previously would have been something Ana would have not feel able to do. But due to all the training she had been undertaking she decided just to go for it. Ana completed the interview well, using the STAR method to formulate her answers. Later that day Ana was told that she had the job!
Since then, Ana has been receiving in work support from her employability coordinator to support her with the move in to work. She is doing amazingly. She says her journey with PES “felt very supportive” and that “Someone was with me; it wasn’t just me alone”
Jenny Stewart
M.B joined Barnardo’s in January 2021. He had been negatively impacted by Covid 19 and due to this he had disengaged from Education. Though previously he had been achieving high levels of attainment. He had achieved all A’s at National 5. He had been left feeling very anxious about Covid and unsure of what opportunities were available to him. M.B also has ADHD and due to this can struggle to follow verbal instructions and retain information. A support plan was put in the place with his project worker to best support participation.
M.B originally joined the Explore & B’leave programme which offers 1:1 support to those at risk of being left behind. This includes school leavers who are seeking support to get into the world of work, and young people transitioning from school to post school activity. This project support’s young people within the Youth Guarantee provision with their individual needs towards positive progressive learning and outcomes.
Prior to joining E&B M.B’s mum was very concerned that he would struggle with the online learning. But M.B with the right support went from strength to strength. He amazed project workers when he performed with his guitar on zoom on several occasions while being involved in a song writing workshop. While on this programme M.B identified goals, identified his skills and strengths using My World Of Work. Additionally he created a CV and was involved with several working with others activities. M.B also identified several careers he was interested in which were music, physics and accounting. Several sessions were spent looking at these different careers and further education required for each role.
Due to the success of this person-centred & strengths-based approach M.B was able to reflect on his strengths and skills. He also decided that he would like to apply to study NC Music. M.B also identified that prior to applying for college and to prepare him for a group learning environment that it would be beneficial for himself to progress on to our Fit For Work programme. Fit For Work offers An 8 week interactive employability programme that provides 1:1 mentoring and group work to young people (Stages 1 and 2 of the employability skills pipeline). Additionally, it provides follow up support to sustain positive destinations.
This programme helped M.B develop personal and social skills through activity-based learning. While on this programme M.B took part in a walking challenge to raise wellbeing and general fitness. This was a great challenge for him as due to Covid M.B had not been leaving his house. He also took part in several sessions around “financial fitness”. Through these sessions he learned how to budget and what bills are involved in independent living. M.B also took part in a upcycling activity. During which he successfully upcycled a drum, M.B designed his brief, budgeted for materials and created a fantastic end result.
M.B was supported to apply for College while on FFW. During the application process his project worker arranged a visit to the college. During this visit he was given a tour and met with one of his lecturers. This was an amazing experience for M.B as he was shown the studios and the equipment and see the passion for music of the lecturers on this course. It also helped to ease the worries M.B had for the transition from school to further education. M.B was prepped over several sessions for his college interview. When the time came he was prepared and was given an unconditional offer.
M.B’’s confidence and employability skills had also grown so much by this point that he was also applying for part time jobs independently. M.B has now left Barnardo’s and is sustaining his college place and gaining the skills he needs for his future career as a musician.
Young person’s event on the 6th of May 12-4 at Dudhope Park.
The aim of this event was to gather young people’s views on the Young Person’s Guarantee (YPG), what it means to them, and what their understanding is of it. We were keen as we come out of Covid and were able to work face to face to have an exciting and empowering day for our young people. The day was organised to show them that their views and opinions matter and that they can shape the future of how the Scottish government supports young people.
We wanted to create an event that gathers young people’s views and opinions ensuring inclusivity and full participation. We decided to ensure inclusivity that we will gather data in several ways to suit all our different learners:
We organised activities to get our young people active and moving. We gathered data through a game of Rounders. During the game we asked young people questions at each base before they move on to next. We also organised a game of Corners. Young people were encouraged to go to the red corner if they feel the current YPG supports their aspirations.
We organised a large-scale art activity where we made a mural with the question “What does your future look like”. Young people were encouraged to use different materials to create images and words of what they want to achieve from the support of YPG.
We planned a nail stall. It was planned that a young person would be doing nails along with the help of a young person and having informal conversations with young people around YPG to gather data.
For the young people that do not want to get their nails done but that would also like to give auditory data we planned a song writing workshop and a focus group.
For reading and writing we created an online survey that our young people could use anonymously in the run up to the event to share their views on YPG. This was easy read and made in such a way that we really allow for a depth of data from the young people and without leading their opinions or creating bias. We also offered sessions for young people who needed support to complete a form in the lead up to the event. We additionally had staff available to support with forms on the day and an anonymised suggestion box.
Most importantly we wanted this event to be fun for our young people! Our kickstart project worker took a lead on this and planned several activities. These included a scavenger hunt and a dance off. A photo booth with props was also planned to be used to film young people answering questions about YPG. We also played music throughout the day too. Additionally we ordered food for all staff and young people to enjoy together.
In terms of paperwork, we tried to keep this to an absolute minimum. We did this as it can be a barrier to participation for many of our young people. Additionally, to get a rich level of qualitative data, we required this event to be fully inclusive of all young people. We advertised this event by having informal conversations with our young people about what the YPG is and how they would like it to look.
Overall we felt we had a fantastic event with lots of our young people participating. We managed to gather a wide variety of data. From analysing the data, we identified some common themes:
We have then used this data to feed back to the Scottish government. We have also used the data gathered to inform our practise in terms of how we support our young people into positive destinations.
Jenny Stewart
Who doesn’t love a good news story and seeing our young people shine?! 🥰
Leah began working with Barnardo’s at the end of 2019. She was struggling with her anxiety and lacked a lot of confidence and self-belief. Leah and I started to build a good relationship and I started to notice a positive change in her confidence. Then by March 2020 we were in lockdown.
Leah and I started to work virtually carrying out weekly sessions via zoom covering a variety of topics looking at building her confidence and working on her employability skills. Leah had applied for college and had been given a place on the waiting list, so this was good to have in place, but we did not know if a place would come up for college so continued to do some work looking for jobs too.
During this time, we applied for different jobs but often did not hear back. Leah continued to persevere with job searching and applications and her confidence continued to grow and grow. We completed lots interview prep, and I really believed Leah was ready to go and smash it! In August 2020, Leah attended an interview for Balgillo Nursery via zoom, which she felt had gone well.
Leah received a phone call the next day to be told she had been successful and that she had secured a Modern Apprenticeship!! All her hard work had paid off and I was so proud of how far she had come!
I have kept in touch with Leah since this time and she has gone from strength to strength. The feedback from the employer has always been excellent and Leah really is an asset to their team! Leah has just finished her qualification and is just totally thriving! I am so proud of her and all she has achieved!
Leah said – “My time with Barnardo’s helped me so much with building my confidence. I feel being given the support I was given helped me to change my point of view and gave me the drive to believe I could achieve the things I has always wanted too. With Sarah’s friendly and encouraging support behind me I felt I could search and find the right path for me and I knew she was with me every step of the way believing in me. I am very thankful for the support I was given as I don’t think I would be where I am today without it. Thank you so much to Sarah and Barnardo’s for everything! “
