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Training for Personal Progression Interim evaluation report June 2010 Report to:

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Contents

Page

Executive Summary 3

Introduction

Methodology

Key findings

Achievements 4

Progression – counselling clients

Progression – other clients

Progression – volunteers

Leverage of funding - £280, 466

Counselling Accreditation and in-kind £90,000

Additional services SWAN

Case Studies

Progression towards Matrix Accreditation

Targets and outputs 6

Understanding clients’ progression needs 7

Courses and Training 8

Refocusing training

Marketing and Communications 9

Organisational Issues 10

Board and Trustees

Residential Planning Sessions

Staff handbook and Policies

WHAC Manager sick leave and Board response

Case Studies 11

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Executive Summary

Introduction This interim evaluation has been produced as a mid-point review of the Working Neighbourhoods Fund project, Training for Personal Progression. A full evaluation will be produced at the end of the project and should be available publicly by May 2011. This report seeks to highlight in brief: o the strengths and benefits that WHAC brings to the County’s employability support programme o how WHAC has performed in terms of delivering the outputs and targets, aims and objectives o how this project manages to overcome a wide range of barriers experienced by clients and helps

them to progress to training, volunteering and employment

Methodology

Declan Baharini, a WHAC Trustee, lead Board member for Employability and former Manager of

Wansbeck Initiative, agreed to produce the interim evaluation free of charge.

This involved information gathering from the Board, staff and volunteers, as well as reviewing all

documents produced by the WHAC on behalf of the delivery consortium and all monitoring

information and data relating to the project, as well as client feedback.

Key findings

Essential part of the infrastructure

It is clear both from the documentary evidence and interviews that this project is not only valuable, but an essential part of the partnership employability infrastructure in South East Northumberland, dealing with some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who require a series of interventions and support to enable them to progress

Leverage of additional funding and in-kind

WHAC has levered in £280,466 from other funding sources to complement the core costs provided through WNF (approximately £160,000 WNF at the revised level). In addition, over the 18 months of the project £90,000 in-kind support through counselling will have been delivered

Enabling and effective The range of interventions and the approaches taken is enabling and effective, with the mix of professional and highly trained volunteer counsellors providing mental health support and the education and training officer and tutors delivering a ladder of courses and training, with referral agencies involved as required depending on the circumstances

Builds bridges and interface with partners

This project complements the work of the wide variety of voluntary and community sector activities and organisations delivering employability services and support in the area and provides a key interface with referral partners and support agencies and provide a seamless and quality service to clients.

Supports clients on the long journey for their personal progression

Clients who are unemployed have a strong opportunity to progress into training or volunteering and even employment, but this can be a long journey due to their often difficult personal circumstances and there are no quick fixes with this client group. There are also many clients who are currently employed and need support to remain in work.

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Opportunity to refocus and boost LSOA impact

Although the project has achieved or exceeded all seven the targets for unemployed people of working age, it has not achieved the 60% of these coming from LSOA target and the project will focus new activities in key Super Output Areas to seek to address this

Achievements

The staff, volunteer counsellors, clients and partners involved in the Training for Personal Progression project, all stress the value which is placed on the service. WHAC, as a small voluntary organisation plays a key role within the employability infrastructure, providing a vital service to women over 14 who are experiencing a wide range of difficulties which affect their mental and physical health and affect their ability to seek or retain work, as well as to have a fulfilling life. This project is significant, as it delivers a broad range of quality counselling support, combined with referrals to the key partners involved in financial advice/debt (DAWN), housing advice (Stonham), health (Health Trainers, Care Trust) and also a range of wider partners through the NEWS network. It also delivers training on a number of levels to aid the progression of all of the groups cited in the original proposal: volunteer counsellors, counselling clients and other clients from the most deprived areas of Northumberland. Some key achievements are represented in summary below.

Progression – Counselling Clients

All clients seeking counselling are assessed and then move on to counselling sessions with volunteer counsellors to help them address their issues

Many counselling clients then receive support from partner agencies to overcome challenges in their life

Counselling is now being delivered in the evenings and weekends Clients often move on to the softer courses (tai chi, creative writing, healthy

lifestyles) and then to the six session training courses which are designed to be a ladder of progression, moving the client through these in a supportive way, providing action planning and critical thinking skills and confidence

Counselling clients receive support to access further training, employment advice and volunteering opportunities

Progression – Other clients

Many people self refer or are referred to WHAC for shorter term interventions and support -all clients are assessed and then the appropriate support suggested, either through WHAC or through partner agencies

Clients are encouraged to access the soft courses (tai chi, creative writing, healthy lifestyles) or the six session training courses , depending on their situation and needs

All clients receive employability support through advice about accessing further training, employment advice and volunteering opportunities

Progression – Volunteers

The main group of volunteers with WHAC are the counsellors, who must meet stringest quality standards to join the team and are recruited on an ongoing basis and managed by the Volunteer Co-ordinator , Linda-Jaine Clair.

Volunteers will already have some qualifications and they are able to progress through the training offered by WHAC as well as through gaining valuable work experience working with the clients

Volunteers often either gain employment or progress within their

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employment as a result of volunteering with WHAC

WHAC also offers a range of volunteering placements within the office, to provide help and support, but also it affords them an opportunity to gain confidence in a working environment and additional employability skills

Counselling Accreditation and in-kind contribution £90,000

Accreditation NCFE Accreditation WHAC Volunteer Counsellor Training is a major achievement for WHAC as well as for the county, as this high level qualification ensures and validates the quality of the service provided by the Counsellors who are volunteering and who also are able to progress in their own training and employment. This was a key milestone for the project and has been achieved on target in June 2010.

In-kind contribution The cost of an equivalent counselling service would be £75 per hour if it had to be bought (as recognised in the Service Level Agreement with the Care Trust). Over the 18 months of the project, WHAC will have delivered around 1200 counselling sessions with an in-kind cost of £90,000

Additional services - SWAN

Supporting Women in Northumberland is a Ministry of Justice supported project which is delivered by a consortium of VCS partners (Escape, Fourth Action, WHAC) and working closely with Probation and others to help women ex-offenders overcome the challenges and barriers they face in settling back into life outside prison

Often women will be unemployed and may be stigmatised, but may also have serious mental health issues, as well as a variety of other problems around housing, debt, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, life and employability skills

Lorraine Burley was employed as WHAC-based support for the women and now has a full caseload with 10 clients receiving longer term support

Case studies

Staff have written their first case studies to demonstrate the type of issues clients and volunteers face and the range and depth of support they receive. They are useful in terms of being able to show progress and how the clients have moved on following the range of interventions.

There are many such cases and WHAC will be demonstrating more case studies in future quarterly reports and for the evaluation of the project.

Progression towards Matrix Accreditation

WHAC is now progressing towards Matrix accreditation, which is a major step

Leverage of funding - £280,466

Because of the funding from Working Neighbourhoods supporting core costs, WHAC has been able to lever in £280,466, which includes multi-annual funding as well as establishing Service Level Agreements with the Care Trust

Big Lottery £223,466 over four years (2008-12) Ministry of Justice £25,000 for 2010-11 for SWAN ex-offenders service Fair Shares £12,000 for 2010-11 for Seaton Valley, Blyth Care Trust £20,000 per year for three years under a Service Level Agreement

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for the organisation being recognised by this quality standard This is a condition of grant and WHAC has been delayed in achieving this due

to the Manager being seriously ill. The application has now been submitted and the evidence gathered for the Assessor. The accreditation process can take some time, but it is expected that this should be achieved within the life of the training project

Targets and Outputs

The project has been running from September 2009 to June 2010 and was a progression from a

previous successful Working Neighbourhoods Fund project.

At the midway point of the project (9 months), it is achieving or exceeding all of its targets. The

target on employment and the target on accredited training are new targets for the project which

were added after it began.

In June, WHAC reviewed all the clients since the start of the project and ensured that there are

appropriate records of their outputs across the range of targets. This involved a sweep of all clients

and records and as well as new people coming into the centre. Given the unavoidable delays in

recruiting Counsellors at the start of the project and sickness of key staff over the last six months,

this level of achievement is a credit to the WHAC team and WHAC is confident that the project will

be able to meet all targets.

All outputs relate to the number of unemployed clients and not to the total number of clients who

receive services in WHAC, some of whom are employed, students or retired. The mix of funding

support highlighted in the Achievements section (Leverage), ensures that all clients are catered for.

Output Q3 actual

Q4 actual

Q1 actual

Total 9 month

ACTUAL

9 month output TARGET

End of project target

T1 engaged 9 19 113 141 135 300

T2 receiving employability support 9 19 113 141 135 300

T3 progressing to training/learning provision

5 8 55 68 50 110

T5 progressing to volunteering 0 0 10 10 10 20

T6 attaining accredited qualifications/part q

0 1 3 4 3 12

T8 securing paid self/or employment 0 0 6 6 3 6

T11 referred to other services 9 19 49 78 75 150

For WNF, clients from the targeted Lower Super Output Areas are also counted as a proportion of

the total. The number of these is not as high as the 60% rate of all unemployed clients required, but

this is being addressed. One issue is that people are being helped to stay in employment or are

students and they are from SOAs, but cannot be counted.

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There is a need to ensure that there is more work delivered physically in these areas and a greater

effort to engage them. The information in the report on courses, training, marketing and

communications shows how this is being addressed.

The actual number of people who are helped through the project is far higher than the number of people counted in these outputs and this anomaly is discussed in the next section.

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Understanding clients’ progression needs

There has been a lot of learning during this project and its predecessor projects. In

particular about the nature of the support required for employment and training to be

achieved with the client group of vulnerable women with multiple issues and needs. The

following issues will be raised with the County Council appointed WNF evaluation team.

Clients who need multiple interventions to progress

The key issue that most clients need multiple engagements and interventions to progress.

This project is called ‘Training for personal progression’ and was established to provide a

range of support and training which enabled vulnerable women with multiple barriers and

challenges to progress along a path. This incorporates a range of referrals to different

services and a range of training courses specifically designed to move people along a path

towards volunteering, further training and employment.

The employability partnership needs to recognise that the Hanlon system and the way that

targets and outputs are recorded does not reflect the delivery of this type of project. A

Training for Personal Progression client progressing through a series of four or five 6-week

training sessions would be counted once by the NCC system under the T3 target, equivalent

to someone who may receive a one-day training session who would also be counted once.

Since September 2009 TPP has had 194 places available on courses. 119 of these were

taken by clients returning to the Centre or attending more than one course at any given

time. Life coaching, Labyrinth, It’s my Life, My future in my hands are follow on courses

from the Confidence Building and of the 52 places available 43 were taken by clients already

on our system. 2 courses (20 places) were completely filled by the same 10 clients

returning. It is recommended that there should be recognition of the distance to travel and

the time it takes for those with the greatest challenges to progress.

Client groups who need support to remain in or progress in employment

Not everyone who needs training, employability support and referral is unemployed. Many

of the clients who are referred or self-refer to WHAC are people in danger of losing their

employment due to mental health issues as well as multiple challenges around domestic

violence, debt, housing and financial pressures. One of the case studies demonstrates the

fact that she had lost her employment due to the stress she was under and through WHAC

was able to progress back into employment.

Many women are retained in employment by this support and this should be recognised in

some way through the monitoring. Without the service they would be adding to the

unemployed figures. It is recommended that there should be some recognition of this

client group and their needs, especially in the current economic climate, where retaining

employment could be as important as moving people into work.

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Courses and Training

The project is a training and support project predominantly for the purposes of WNF, which

seeks to also encourage people into other opportunities such as further training, education

and employment. The counselling service provided is not classed as training and is mental

health support, but it does provide the engagement and the impetus for people to be able

to move on and access courses, training, volunteering and employment.

Soft courses which can run up to 10 weeks, such as tai chi, creative writing and relaxation

and enable women to take small steps into being involved in a course structure and to have

opportunities to build confidence and socialise. These courses have attracted on average 12

people, which is a suitable number for the type of clients.

The other courses are structured to support the progression of the women and tend to run

as 6 two hour sessions in consecutive weeks.

Building confidence and self esteem

Healthier Life Style, Healthier You!

Life Coaching

Labyrinth

Managing stress and anxiety

It’s my life

My future in my hands

The healthy lifestyles course is run to address the poor health of many women and families

and there are a range of ways that these can be run. WHAC is now considering running it

differently ( e.g. individual workshops) and the health trainers are being asked for their

input as this may have more impact.

There is success in getting the two new courses off the ground in and for Managing Stress

and Anxiety, and My Future in My Hands, the participants have said how useful it is already.

My future in my Hands is the follow on course to It’s my life. Sue Saunders the trainer

consistently attracts good feedback.

Refocusing training

Following the discussions with the County Council’s monitoring officer in June, the staff and

Board considered undertaking a review of some of the training to ensure that there were

more courses which could be delivered with taster sessions off site (not in WHAC premises

so men can be involved) and follow on progression courses. These would be marketed

more extensively to ensure that more people are engaged and have the opportunity to

receive support. This is described under Marketing and Communications.

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The new courses will all have taster sessions in the summer and be slightly refocused to

highlight employability aspects and run over a shorter period of time to encourage more

people to be involved:

Refocused Taster sessions and Training

Building Confidence To Find Work

People looking for work, whose confidence needs a boost, or whose lack of confidence stops them from finding a job, or find it hard to present themselves positively

It’s My Life, Preparing For Employment

Helps people to set realistic goals that move them forward into employment. Learn to believe in themselves and discover what they really want from work. Design a positive future for themselves and gain personal independence.

Managing Stress Whilst Seeking Work

People who feel stressed or anxious about looking for work are taught to use practical tools and techniques to help them resolve or cope with stress and have the skills and abilities to seek work with confidence

Coaching for Employment

People learn how to use coaching to examine their attitudes to work, identify their qualities, set future employment goals, motivate themselves and communicate effectively and use positive action to gain employment.

Marketing and communications

In terms of marketing, there has been success in gaining permission to go ahead with some

marketing ideas and the Board have developed a marketing strategy following on from the

residential with staff, volunteers and Trustees in January. This is now rolling out and

Trustees, staff and volunteers are gearing up to undertake promotional and engagement

activities over the summer months to engage people who do not use community centres

and are not coming over the threshold of WHAC.

The Board has been exploring new ways of engaging and using all staff, Trustees and

Volunteers to attend events in the communities, sign people up and also think of new ways

of marketing and communicating the services, e.g. through social networking sites.

In addition, the Education and Training Officer has approached the NEWS team based in

Ashington to support a Jobs Fayre which will encourage people. WHAC is thinking about

inviting employers to display the jobs they have, the job centres, and other agencies, who

offer support to people seeking work or training, to take part. WHAC would advertise the

fayre locally at the Masonic Hall or similar, to attract as many people to meet organisations

and get advice. NEWS would assist with engaging support services and organisations,

advertising to the clients on their records and also sharing information through the NEWS

Network.

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Organisational Issues

Board and Trustees

WHAC has revised its Board membership over the last 18 months to engage a range of Trustees

(volunteers) who are professionals in their own fields and add value to the strategic planning for the

service and link to key partners. Specialisms range from the law, to programming, mental health,

mentoring and coaching, training, employability physical health, housing, financial inclusion and

there are also women who have personal experience which can give insight into the needs of the

clients.

Board members promote and profile WHAC through a wide range of county, regional and national

networks relating to all of these areas and bring their contacts and experience to maximise the

benefits of the service and ensure it is embedded but also influencing policy and strategy.

Board members take responsibility for key areas of policy and actions and report monthly on

progress and issues, to ensure that development is continual and that there is strong management

and leadership between the staff and the Board.

Residential Planning Sessions

WHAC staff, trustees and volunteers participate in two residential planning sessions per year, to join

up front line delivery with strategy and policy and to jointly agree priorities and actions for forward

plans and delivery. In January the session focused on monitoring and evaluation, as well as

marketing and communications and had led to a revised and improved system for monitoring and a

new marketing strategy. This demonstrates good organisational management and development.

Staff handbook and Policies

Trustees have completed the Staff Handbook which is a comprehensive document shared

with all staff and trustees and which contains all the relevant policies and procedures. It is

regularly reviewed and monitored by the Board and will be updated bi-annually or as the

need arises due to legislative or policy change.

WHAC Manager sick leave and Board response

Cath Carnaby, Manager of WHAC, has undergone major surgery and has been ill for some

time and has not been able to oversee the work of WHAC. The Board of Trustees put in

place an action plan and robust series of actions to: support the staff and volunteers

through weekly staff meetings ; pairing staff with a Trustee to provide mentoring and

support on an individual basis; Trustees taking on roles which would have normally be

carried out by the Manager including representing WHAC at key meetings, providing

expertise and additional management support; and to ensure that the Finance Officer was

able to take on additional duties in the interim period to help support the organisation

achieve its outputs.

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Case Studies

Case studies bring the service to life for those who are not closely involved. WHAC staff have

produced a range of case studies to demonstrate the type of issues which the client group are

facing, how they are helped and how they progress. Personal information has been removed to

protect the identity of the client.

These case studies are important as they demonstrate the significant issues the women are facing

and how over a sustained period they are supported in a variety of ways and from a variety of

different partner organisations.

Case Study 1 Client L

Demonstrates Support, referrals and progression to employment

Client L aged 31 lives on her own in Blyth. She had previously gone through a divorce. She worked

part time and had 3 children under the age of 5, she found it a struggle to take care of the children

on own whilst also working part time. She had very little input from her ex husband. She decided to

approach the school to discuss the fact that she was finding it a struggle to be the sole carer for the

children. She hoped that they would be able to give her some advice on how to access some

additional support. It was at this point that social services became involved. As a result of social

services becoming involved full custody of the children was awarded to her ex husband. During the

time that social services became involved client L also lost her part time job. Losing custody of her

children came as a huge shock and something that the client had not anticipated. She felt that she

had been let down and dismissed by everyone.

The client was initially brought to WHAC by a sure start support worker. WHAC’s Counsellor Lead

worked with this client supporting her emotional needs during counselling session as well as

addressing her additional needs and making appropriate referrals. There were times when Client L

was unable to attend the WHAC centre due to financial struggles, on these occasions the lead

Counsellor would find a venue within walking distance from the clients home (usually a sure start

building) or if that was not an option WHAC would finance her travelling expenses. Whilst

attending WHAC the client has been referred to DAWN for financial and family law advice.

Since coming to WHAC Client L has:

moved out of the marital home

secured premises of her own

progressed into paid employment

looked at obtaining shared residency of her children in the future

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Case Study 2 Volunteer C

Demonstrates Progression from unemployment to training and employment

C came into the centre in April 2008 for an initial Volunteer interview; she had been unemployed for

several years due to her personal circumstances and was looking to take a different path. C was

successful in her interview but initially because of childcare issues she felt unable to attend the

training course. C and I discussed the possibility of WHAC paying for some childcare so that she

could attend the course, this was agreed and she progressed onto the 6 week WHAC Volunteer

Counsellor training course. Upon completion of this C attended a final interview and began client

work in August 2008.

Before C started the NCFE Counselling Course she had gained several qualifications, and part of her

course requirement was to gain experience through client work at WHAC. As C progressed she

became more confident and she was competent enough to take on more ‘complex’ issues. During

the time C was at WHAC she produced a book which was specifically to help clients with Panic

Attacks and Anxiety available via her website. She also looked to the possibility of providing a

training course to WHAC and outside organisations.

Key achievements of C following on from the support of WHAC are that:

C successfully gained her Foundation Degree in Counselling in July 2009

Due to C’s increasing confidence and skill she was offered some paid assessment work whilst

looking for paid employment

C applied for several positions and was successful in securing a position as a ‘Community

Family Support Worker’ in June 2010

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Case Study 3 Volunteer A

Demonstrates Progression from disability benefits to accredited training and volunteering

Volunteer A aged 54 lives in Ashington with her partner. Her last employment was as an Auditor for

the NHS 13 years ago, but due to stresses and difficulties at work she was unable to continue and

stopped working. A began claiming DLA and income support.

A applied to be a Volunteer at WHAC in 2004; she came with general office skills which included

auditing and finance. Her primary aim at that time was to gain more skills and knowledge, have

more confidence, to meet new people on a social level and to do something useful. Initially A started

with general admin tasks which included computer work, dealing with telephone enquiries and

processing expense claim forms. Over a period of years A enrolled on several WHAC courses for her

own personal development, and as a result of this felt able to approach another Voluntary

Organisation to gain further experience, whilst still offering time at WHAC. The following are a few

examples of the courses she attended at the centre: Confidence/Self Esteem, It’s My Life, Eat Well

For Less, Labyrinth, Life Coaching, Anger Management, My Future in My Hands

A began working with Debt Advice clients when WHAC undertook partnership working. This required

a higher level of expertise and training.

In addition to that A has gained academic qualifications supported by WHAC to further her learning –

NCFE Level 1 Certificate in Interpersonal Skills

NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Adult Literacy

NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Adult Numeracy

OCR Entry Level Certificate in using ICT (entry 3) (displaying information using ICT)

OCR Level 1 Certificate for IT users (new Clait – 3 levels)

(File management and e-document production)

OCR Level 1 Certificate for IT users

(Creating spreadsheets and graphs)

OCR Level 1 Certificate for IT users (Databases)

In A’s review she identified that she felt that she was working towards the final stages of gaining

employment which she hoped would be initially 16 hours, giving her time to contribute to WHAC. A

has been offered temporary employment with WHAC to work specifically with Debt Advice clients