Get on-the-job training and kick-start your career

25.11.2005 Quality training is good for trainees and businesses alike – that’s the thinking behind a new on-the-job Tourism and Hospitality training scheme in Ilfracombe this winter.

Learning providers in North Devon are working together to provide a completely new kind of training for job seekers in the Ilfracombe area, thanks to Transform, the Neighbourhood Management Programme.

The scheme offers on-the-job training at a hotel in Ilfracombe leading to an NVQ for successful trainees. It runs from January to Easter 2006 – the quiet time for tourism businesses – with trainees attending sessions for one day and one evening per week. Trainees will learn core catering and hospitality skills, customer service, security and bar work as required. There will also be time for individual learning to cover skills for life, food hygiene, IT qualifications, first aid and any other individual requirements. Trainees who are not already employed will be assisted to find places by the end of the course.

Philip Done, the partnership facilitator, said, “This scheme has been tailored to meet the needs of hospitality and tourism businesses and for people looking for good jobs in those businesses. I’m really pleased that the hard work of partners over the last six months has put together such a good package.”

Huw Davies at North Devon College, the lead training organisation said, “North Devon College is pleased to be working with partners in Ilfracombe to deliver high quality training for the Hotel Industry. This is the beginning of series of opportunities for local people to learn new skills and improve existing skills.”

The scheme is aimed at anyone in a tourism/hospitality business without formal training or qualifications, or people who are not in full-time work or education. The course is free for people on means-tested benefits. Anyone who’d like to find out more is invited to the taster and recruitment day on 13 December at the Osborne Hotel on Wilder Road, Ilfracombe,10.30am - 12.30pm. For more details or to book your place, phone Sandra Coates on 01271 864171, or email ilfcomed@dial.devon.gov.uk.

Transform, the Neighbourhood Management Programme, brought all the learning and training providers in North Devon together in a ‘Jobs and Training’ task group to find new ways to meet the needs of people seeking quality jobs. Tourism is crucial to the local economy but there is a lot of competition. A better skilled staff can help tourism businesses prosper and help individuals to get better jobs.

Gary Smith, Neighbourhood Manager, said, “We’re responding to requests for local training opportunities in Ilfracombe. It’s great to see the training providers working together and foussing on our area in this way.”

North Devon College is working in partnership with Ilfracombe College Adult and Community Learning, and the North Devon Pathfinder Trust to put on the course, with support from the North Devon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the North Devon Marketing Bureau, the North Devon Enterprise Agency, Job Centre Plus, Connexions and nextstep. Leaflets with more information are available from all these agencies.