Berkshire Education Employer Partnership (BEEP) is an exciting new employability programme that runs over two-and-a-half years, delivered by Adviza and funded by the European Social Fund* Its purpose is to align young people and businesses in Berkshire, encouraging employers to create opportunities and nurture talent while developing employability skills in individuals.
What is BEEP?
With support from our delivery partners - Adviza, Activate Learning, Newbury College. West Berkshire EBP - we aim to make a difference to young people in Berkshire by addressing key employability issues in the area. This includes building capacity within SMEs and targeting the most hard-to-reach areas and disadvantaged young people (e.g. schools with lowest attainment rates).
BEEP aims to:
Reduce skills gaps/shortages
Build talent retention
Help employers with recruitment - “grow your own”
Challenge stereotypes
Build Labour Market Information, careers knowledge and employability skills in young people.
The fully-funded programme includes employer and other events and a suite of support services for Berkshire schools and employers.
Who is BEEP for?
BEEP specifically supports young people aged 15–24, including 140 requiring intensive support i.e. those who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), additional needs or low attainment rates.
We will prioritise young people with additional needs for our intensive support offer.
What does BEEP offer?
Employer offer:
We help employers build capacity and develop stronger networks with young people and education providers, enabling them to provide more opportunities to inspire young people and introduce them to the world of work.
We focus on the priority job families established by the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), namely Digital Technology, Engineering and Science, Construction, Health & Social Care and Education. This supports growth in the Berkshire employment market by reducing skills shortages and addressing recruitment and retention challenges identified by the LEP as a key priority.
Young Person offer:
We promote opportunities (including T-Levels and Apprenticeships), help young people make informed employment decisions and provide employability training, helping to improve the supply of priority skills into the local economy and retain local talent.
How can employers get involved?
Learning to Work is seeking 500 Berkshire employers (including 400 SMEs) to work with us and provide events, challenges and work placements. In return we help you to build your confidence working with young people through a team of professional experts, ongoing support and regular contact. We grow your engagement with local candidates through short work experience and longer-term placements (i.e. T-Levels) and match individual young people to the most appropriate employer.
Contact us to get involved: email: info@learningtowork.org.uk
How do I refer?
Contact us to refer a young person: email: info@learningtowork.org.uk
We offer a comprehensive work experience placement for pre and post 16 students, this could be a 1 week block placement of extended e.g. 1 day per week for 12 weeks.
Our level 6 careers guidance practitioners offer a variety of activities including 1-2-1 guidance, group workshops and employer insight sessions.
From 1 hour workshops to 3 day conferences our events teams bring businesses into schools to interact with young people and share their own experience.
Keyworker support for young people with SEND or other barriers to participation.