West Midlands landlord Family Housing Association has helped a group of young Birmingham residents to fight back against worklessness and gain employment skills, in partnership with Urban Living.

Five unemployed young people – including two Family Housing residents – recently completed National Open College Network (NOCN) qualifications in construction and administration, giving them valuable work experience to apply for positions in a competitive job market. Family Housing organised the scheme after becoming an accredited NOCN provider last year.

More than 10 individuals applied for the scheme, which included initial training at Family Housing’s offices in Bordesley, Birmingham and an eight-week placement on one of the housing association’s regeneration projects around the city. Most of the funding came from Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC)’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund, topped up by Birmingham eco programme, Urban Living - meaning that all trainees were paid whilst taking part in the scheme.

Sandwell MBC’s Think Local construction employment team and Family Housing staff mentored the trainees to ensure that they achieved the NOCN qualification in just two months. Urban Living also supported work placements in South Lozells, where it is working with Family Housing to create an ‘urban village’ by installing solar panels, insulation and a range of other energy saving measures.

Single Handsworth mother and Family Housing resident Parvinder Sohal successfully completed Family’s NOCN Administration certificate, having spent her two months’ placement working on the Kick Start project, a government-backed home improvement loan scheme. She said: “As a young mother with two small children, I took part in the course to improve my skills to allow me to get back into work.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience; the weeks flew by and I would recommend the course to others in a similar situation. I’m now on the lookout for similar customer service and administration jobs, with Family’s support.”

Construction trainee and 22 year old Sandwell resident James Rowley has also had his CV boosted by the NOCN course, learning on the job about solar panel installation at Family Housing’s eco village in South Lozells. He said: “I picked up skills on a range of areas, from team working and customer services to project planning and technical plumbing skills.

“I worked in the construction industry before being unemployed and hope to get back into that area of work now that I have specialist skills in renewable energy. The NOCN course has given me a step up the career ladder and a brighter future all round.”

Adnan Saif, chief executive of Urban Living, said:”This is a prime example of how Urban Living is working with our partners to deliver joint schemes to help Birmingham’s residents by supporting them into employment and training opportunities.”

Manny Jaspal, employment and training manager for Family Housing Association, organised the project and said that the successful trainees had benefited in more ways than one: “The participants were      long-term unemployed individuals with little work experience and few qualifications but have excelled themselves with excellent results,” he said.