VOLA has an exciting new project starting this summer that aims to stimulate and address demand for workforce development among Third Sector employers across Merseyside.

We will be encouraging leaders of Third Sector organisations to sign up to the Skills Pledge: a voluntary, public commitment to support all its employees to develop their basic skills and work towards relevant qualifications to at least level 2.

Third Sector employers that sign up to the Skills Pledge via VOLA will be eligible for a £1000 training bursary to spend on learning that would not be covered by Train to Gain or other mainstream funding provision. The grant is triggered when you start to implement your training plan.

Committing to the Skills Pledge will also provide you with a Skills Broker from Business Link who will help you identify training and development needs within your workforce and source funding for learning and skills provision on an ongoing basis.

But that’s not all. Being an employer that invests in your workforce will have lasting benefits to the motivation and performance of your staff. In this current economic climate where unemployment is expected to rise and businesses are failing the key to survival is training.

 

This view is supported by Helen France, Area Director Greater Merseyside Learning & Skills Council who said that “Organisations that continue to train during the recession are more likely to survive and will be better placed for the upturn”.

To take advantage of the support available through VOLA’s Skills Pledge Plus project please contact the VOLA management team on (0151) 928 2233 ext 326 or visit  www.volamerseyside.org.uk