Message from the CEO
The economic recession has had an impact on businesses large or small with many struggling to remain competitive in an increasingly demanding market. It’s also a time when public funding is under increasing pressure and many are feeling the impact of government departmental cuts. Our local communities of Bexley and Greenwich are no exceptions to these pressures. At times like this; we understand the need to pull together, to support each other and to make the most of our limited resources.
As a small local charity, the communities within which we operate are extremely important to us; we place the communities we work within at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is “to develop the skills of individuals and communities to respond to the changing needs of a 21st Century workforce”; we couldn’t achieve our aims without a combined effort supporting us to deliver our services. Partner referral agencies, young people accessing our training and local businesses providing employment opportunities, all of which helps create our unique tripartite approach to delivering high quality apprenticeship programmes across a range of sectors.
We have been providing high quality training programmes to young people for over 25 years and in turn supporting our local community by providing skilled, energetic and dedicated young people ready to enter the workplace and make a significant impact on the organisations they work for.
Apprenticeships and Vocational training are a real alternative to mainstream education with many young people choosing to enter employment as soon as possible. Skills for Growth provide additional support to all young people who commence learning programmes with us. We want every young person who trains with us to have the best possible start to their career. We strive to ensure that all of our young people have the opportunity to develop a solid range of skills required to sustain themselves in the world of work and progress as far as they can in their time with us.
Research tells us that apprenticeships provide a real return on investment for many organisations and they also bring with them an opportunity to inject new ideas and approaches into sometimes long established ways of working. 29% of our own workforce has either been an apprentice in the past or is currently undertaking an apprenticeship whilst being employed by us. I am proud that we demonstrate a commitment to our own product and strongly believe that one of the best ways to “recession proof” your organisation is to invest in the skills of your workforce, a challenge we can help you with!
As well as delivering apprenticeship training for young people, we also design and deliver short skills courses and deliver vocational training for adults already employed. We would be happy to help you develop a bespoke training package which best suits the needs of your business.
To our existing partners and employers, my sincere thanks for continuing to allow us to support the training needs of your workforce and continuing to give young people that valuable first step on the career ladder, to those we have not yet reached, I look forward to working with you in the future.
For more information on how we can help you, please contact our Learner Services or Employers Services teams.
Ashley McCaul
CEO
Skills for Growth
ashleymccaul@skillsforgrowth.org.uk