Love and Joy Ministries – developing people
Location: Merseyside, North West
ESF Funding: Community Grant
Around 12,150 participants across Merseyside have benefited from the Community Grants scheme managed by Community Foundation for Merseyside since 2008. The scheme is supported by ESF (European Social Fund) with an allocation of £2.9 million. Community Grants of up to £12,000 are available for voluntary and community organisations to help them reach disadvantaged people furthest from the Labour Market. To date, approximately 200 community organisations have engaged with ESF through this grant scheme.
The Grants support a wide range of activities including training, advice and counselling; jobsearch; work experience; assistance with basic skills needs and confidence building.
One organisation to make use of a Community Grant is Love and Joy Ministries in Anfield, Merseyside, which provides semi independent accommodation in Liverpool for young people aged 16-18 coming through the care system. The group had seen a rise in the number of people approaching the organisation for volunteering and work placement opportunities. Many of these had problems with addiction or homelessness or had poor English speaking skills.
To respond to this need, the group successfully applied for a European Social Fund (ESF) Community Grant of £11,940 to deliver a ‘Develop People Programme’ over 20 weeks. The project targeted vulnerable adults, the main focus being adults with a history of alcohol and drug addiction, residents in supported housing provision coming out of periods of homelessness and people with very poor competence in English. The programme included group engagement activities, such as art classes and public speaking workshops, skills development, work experience and job search support.
The employability workshops covered topics such as interview techniques, assertiveness training, CV preparation and job search. Participants also gained skills in other subjects including health and safety, food hygiene, manual handling, NVQ administration, ESOL and IT. Personal development and mentoring on a one to one basis was also an important part of the project as volunteers were encouraged to express their concerns and the areas where they needed to strengthen skills.
The grant also covered the costs of employing a volunteer mentor. Mentoring was a very valuable part of the project as it helped guide and encourage people and helped show the way back into employment in a supportive way. The grant also funded lunch and travel costs to give volunteers the freedom to take full advantage of all that was on offer in terms of training and work experience.
32 people directly benefited from the project over the 20 weeks, and at least 5 participants went on to get a job.
Joan Ford
Tel: 0151 232 2425
joan.ford@cfmerseyside.org.uk