Nesta’s work on Innovation in Jobs

• Making the case for more systematic innovation in the labour market

• Mapping the best new innovations that create jobs and help people into work

• A strong focus on understanding what works through our Standards of Evidence

• Supporting the best innovations to scale and reach more people

Creating & shaping new markets

mobilising capital (e.g. complementary currencies), supporting growth sectors

and new markets (e.g. developing the green

economy)

Supporting entrepreneurship &

enterprise business services (e.g. start-

up support), business incubation, funding and

training for self-employment

Intermediaries that improve matching

employer pooling, web-platforms for flexible working

(e.g. task-matching sites), new approaches to careers advice, individualised job-

matching services

21st century employability

new approaches to employment support (e.g.

career coaching, resilience-building), platforms to

showcase skills and build professional networks

Blurring work & learning

bringing work into the classroom (e.g. business

mentoring in schools) and supported job

opportunities (e.g. apprenticeships)

Jobs Innovators

Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund – priority on helping people into work

We reviewed more than 400 expressions of interest are backing 6 leading innovators scale up their impact. Key features of successful approaches include:

• Volunteer mentors helping people into work

• Corporate volunteering linking employers and unemployed people

• Participation in social action as a route to building skills and gaining employment

Volunteering and Employment – Key Issues

• We know that volunteering builds skills and employability – but how do we make sure people who are furthest from work can benefit from opportunities?

• How can we design social action opportunities to provide practical routes into employment?

• What partnerships do we need to form?

• How can we improve our evidence of what works?

VIY Volunteer It Yourself

Tim Reading, Director, Cospa

VIY – The Big Idea

VIY challenges young people to fix youth clubs in urgent need of repair and to learn trade and building skills in the process. The young people are mentored on the job by local tradespeople, who also volunteer their time, and can earn a vocational qualification and progress to further training, work placement and apprenticeship opportunities.

VIY – enabled by Wickes

Each youth club is matched with, and supported by, a local Wickes store. The local store donates tools and materials, as well as mobilising its trade customers and staff as skills mentors. In return, stores use VIY to build closer relationships with existing and potential trade customers, raise community profile, generate PR, and motivate and inspire staff.

VIY – partners

Over first two years ….

59 club buildings improved

Hall Green Boxing Club, Birmingham

1,299 young people involved

VIY participants, Studio3Arts Youth Club, Barking

1,047 young people gaining a City & Guilds accreditation

VIY graduates, Pedro Youth Club, Hackney

293 tradespeople volunteering

Wickes customers Alex Nadeem and Imran Younas, with VIY participant Danny

96 young people directly progressing to employment

Amina and Claire at Studio3Arts, Barking, have both progressed to jobs as a direct result of taking part in VIY

VIY graduates (plus mentors) at Streatham Youth & Community Trust

270 young people directly progressing to further training and work experience opportunities

• Evolving VIY into a community interest company

• Project will double in size (vs 2012-2014): 120 locations UK-wide

• Unlocking income generation opportunities related to training and employment outcomes for future sustainability

• Introducing chance for young people to earn new C&G ‘personal development and general employability skills’ qualification alongside trade skills vocational qualification

• Setting up Cospa/VIY as a certified C&G training provider and therefore taking skills assessment element in-house

• Better tracking of indirect employment outcomes for VIY graduates beyond the project

• Extending relationships with building contractors to increase employment pathways

Next phase: 2014-2016

Cathedral

Volunteer

Programme

Tracy Fishwick

Director

Vol-ition

The big idea: Cathedrals as iconic

places to stimulate social change

• A distinctive volunteer programme

• Employment as a primary outcome

• Integrity - volunteering very distinct from

conditionality and mandated activity

• Personal - no goodbyes

The volunteer journey

Engage

• Volunteer roles promoted via Jobcentre Plus

• People come to open day at the Cathedral

• They CHOOSE to be involved

• They are SELECTED

Volunteer

• Minimum of 10 weeks

• ½ day per week

• Added value

• Skills

• Work Club

• Employer buy-in

• Support – dedicated co-ordinator

Employ / progress

• Mock interviews

• Guaranteed interviews

• Qualifications and certificates

• Reference

• No ‘goodbyes’

• JOB

• EDUCATION

• STAY AS A VOLUNTEER

C is a lone parent with very low self confidence, 13 years out of work with 3 school

age children. Her previous work experience was casual bar/catering work and some

childcare with no real sustained employment. She was very quiet and couldn’t see

where her future was heading.

C started as a welcomer, meeting and greeting visitors to the Cathedral. She felt

supported by the other volunteers on duty and formed a close bond with them. She

grew so much confidence she read at a service for 300 volunteers and helps with the

recruitment and induction of new volunteers.

C has continued volunteering for 11 months, while coping with a house move due to

bedroom tax, the break-up of a violent relationship and the death of her closest friend.

In this time her health has improved, she has cut down on smoking and lost over 2

stone in weight. She has almost completed her Guide badge, has secured

employment and continues to volunteer every week.

Case study

Over first two years

221 volunteers engaged

http://www.manchestercathedral.org/

29 Employer Partnerships

97 directly in to employment

Training and Personal

Development 120 Level 1

Employability

Qualifications

NVQs

Manual Handling

Continued

Volunteering

IT courses Admin Courses

Mentoring New

Volunteers

First Aid

Next phase 2014-16

• Charitable Incorporated Organisation – establish

the brand and governance of VOL-ITION

• From 80 volunteers p.a. to 720 over next 3 years

• Replicating and scaling e.g. Liverpool, North

West, Rochester Cathedrals

• Widening income generation, and therefore

reach, sustainability and innovation, beyond JCP

• Measuring and comparing impact

Panel Discussion

Tracy Fishwick, Manchester Cathedral Volunteer Programme

Tim Reading, Director, Cospa

Raj Patel, Wickes

Boyd Wood, Senior Policy Adviser, Department for Work and Pensions Chaired by Chris Norris, Programme Manager, Nesta