Employers and Volunteers

In our rapidly changing world the role employers and volunteers play in preparing young people for work becomes increasingly essential.

With youth unemployment in Britain at an all-time high, it has never been more important to ensure that every young person has the skills, attitudes and understanding to make the best of the opportunities open to them.

Appropriate and purposeful engagement in education supports the development of students' employability skills, and can reduce the number of young people suffering long periods of unemployment. It helps young people make the connection between what they are learning and what they need to know, thus making the transition from education to the world of work much easier, which ultimately has a positive effect on all of us.

MEBP can inform and prepare you to ensure that the support you offer is right for you.

Why get Involved?

Every employer is looking for a specific set of skills from job-seekers that match the skills necessary to perform a particular job. As well as this certain attitudes and attributes are nearly universally sought by employers; such as reliability, honesty, perseverance, IT ability, teamwork, a positive attitude and loyalty. We call these employability skills.

MEBP has encouraged thousands of employers to support local young people to help them to develop employability skills in real life settings. We believe that there are many positive reasons why employers successfully develop relationships with local schools; here are just some:

• supporting tomorrow’s workforce
• increased understanding of developments in education
• identifying potential future recruits
• new ideas and insights from highly motivated young people
• developing recruitment channels through local schools and colleges
• shaping positive and productive attitudes to work in your sector
• developing employees’ communication, teamwork and leadership skills
• positive engagement of your business with the community
• addressing Corporate Social Responsibility agenda
• reaching potential new customers
• feel good factor – changing young people’s lives

Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths

Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills development is vital to the success of UK plc. For young people, studying STEM subjects helps them to fulfil their potential and move into careers that are crucial to developing businesses, increasing investment and achieving growth in the UK.

Employers can support STEM development in a number of ways:

• becoming facilitators in school workshops - using your professional skills and knowledge to support a student activity in school – half or whole day workshops for children of all ages
• supporting STEM after school clubs on a regular or one-off basis
• hosting teachers' CPD - raising awareness of what's going on in industry enhances teachers' personal development and curriculum delivery
• providing support to careers activities, such as talks to older students about their own careers, or taking part in practice interviews
• joining schools' governing bodies
• providing work experience, for one or two weeks
• providing a placement for an underachieving young person over an extended period of time on a one-day-a-week basis
• becoming a Medway Mentor

Work Experience

Work Experience is arguably one of the most important activities on the student agenda; the first taste of the real world of work makes an indelible impression on young people and can affect their future commitment to school and work.

Every student is entitled to a placement on an employer's premises, in which they carry out a range of tasks and duties, more or less as would an employee, with the emphasis on the learning aspects of the experience.

MEBP provides a complete service to employers, from health and safety checking their premises to evaluating the placements once completed. Many employers find the process useful in developing their own people and policies.

Please click here for details of employers' requirements. Thousands of Medway employers offer placements to students each year.

If you feel that you may be able to provide a placement please email or call us on 01634 874288 for further information or to arrange a meeting - we're here to help.

Extended Placements in Industry

Some young people struggle in their journey to employability. There may be a variety of personal and educational reasons why they are not succeeding in the academic environment. Others need a boost in order to raise their self-esteem and increase their employability skills.

Over the last few years MEBP has developed a highly successful programme of support for these students by providing them with monitored one-day-a-week placements in the workplace. The placements are initially for a six week period, extended subject to agreement from all parties.

The young people are carefully chosen and prepared before they are linked to a local employer, who provides a structured, developmental work experience.

We have an ever expanding group of fantastic employers who support these young people, who consequently regularly re-engage back in school, go on to college or even start work with the employer as an apprentice.

MEBP provides placements for young people from schools, colleges, PRUs, YOT and the Prison Service. We are always seeking new employers to support this important programme - if you feel you could be involved please contact us.

Apprenticeships

MEBP works closely with training providers and the local authority to try to raise awareness of and interest in apprenticeships, recognising the importance of increasing the number as a means of boosting the economy and addressing skills shortages.

Apprenticeships are work-based training programmes designed around the needs of employers, which lead to national recognised qualifications. You can use apprenticeships to train both new and existing employees. Funding is available to train apprentices.

If you are considering taking on an apprentice we would be happy to point you in the right direction. For further details please contact us.

BTEC WorkSkills Centre

MEBP is becoming a Pearson BTEC Centre, delivering courses to students to enhance their school curriculum and gain accredited employability skills. WorkSkills are BTEC qualifications that can be slotted in and around other courses to accredit skills already being taught.

Extended work placements with employers will form an integral element of the courses, so that each student gains their qualification in an area of vocational choice.

We are working with some employers on a pilot project, where they will be provided with the opportunity to expand their businesses by taking on a school BTEC student, one day a week, with a view to supporting their course in the workplace, whilst ‘testing’ a potential future apprentice employee.

Enterprise Development

Enterprise skills are effectively a set of competencies, including commercial awareness, creativity and communication skills. They are closely linked to the wider employability skills set that includes management skills, the ability to work as part of a team and independently, to be able to plan, co-ordinate and organise, to be able to take responsibility and make decisions, and to be financially literate, punctual, personable and reliable.

Employers constantly berate the lack of these skills in the young people they take on, however accomplished they may be academically.

We have developed a range of enterprise skills development activities and projects that support schools, both primary and secondary.

We aim to ensure that all young people leave school with the interests, attitude and skills to make their way in the very fast paced world of work of the future.

Medway Mentoring

Many young people benefit from having someone other than a parent or teacher to talk to. Over the last twenty years, hundreds of children in Medway have benefited from having a mentor.

Mentoring offers children support and encouragement at one of a number of challenging times in school life that adversely affects their self-esteem and wellbeing.

Our mentors come from business and the wider community, from any background, of all ages and abilities. They do not need to be a parent, social worker or teacher. A mentor is someone who has had experience of life and work and can therefore talk to the student about these areas as well as listen to their worries and concerns in a more general way.
Mentors have the opportunity to develop skills and understanding as part of their personal development, to feel valued and to put something back into the community.