BCC Extends Programmes To Help Boost Employment

Jobseekers across Belfast are being offered a helping hand into employment through a range of support initiatives offered by Belfast City Council.

Five programmes are up and running to support young people, those with disabilities, SEN learners and others who are economically inactive and cut off from the labour market in the hope of placing more people in jobs or finding them a suitable match in education and training.

Details on the programmes are as follows:

• LEMIS+ targets those most removed from the labour market to get them back into employment.

• JobWorks+ meets the needs of young people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment, or training to tailor development support and assist them to develop new skills.

• Path 2 Employment engages with those aged 18+ who are unemployed or economically inactive to equip them with transferable skills so that they can secure a job.

• STRIDE offers people with disabilities who are out of work a year of support to secure paid employment, education or training through mentoring, employability skills, qualifications and experience.

• Recruit++ supports people who are unemployed or economically inactive and on the autistic spectrum to find jobs through mentoring and coaching activities to reduce communication barriers.

Councillor Deirdre Hargey of the Council's City Growth and Regeneration Committee said she hopes the schemes, which are now in their second year of delivery, will contribute to lowering the number of people living in poverty across the city.

"All of our ambitions in the Belfast Agenda are about inclusive regeneration," the Sinn Fein Councillor said. "We want to make sure that everyone benefits from a thriving and prosperous economy – and of course that means that we must focus our efforts on reaching out to those most removed from the labour market to get them back into employment.

"Our people are our greatest asset, so we owe it to them to make sure that they're making social connections, developing skills, reaching their full potential, and giving them a ladder out of poverty towards a better quality of life."



(JG/CM)