New Work

Targeting groups at real or perceived risk of redundancy, New Work was a Dott project aimed at improving signposting to new employment opportunities relevant to the economy and society of 21st century Cornwall.

New Work set out to boost employment opportunities by improving awareness of, and signposting to, new jobs. Sponsored by the Learning Skills Council, the project succesfully reached out to working and workless people, and removed barriers (real or perceived) that previously prevented people from accessing skills and future employment opportunities in Cornwall. The project worked with the people of Cornwall, demonstrating how to achieve personal success whilst nurturing individual talents in positive ways that are relevant to the economy and society of modern day Cornwall.

What was achieved:

Project Report March 2011:

The New Work project engaged with 400+ citizens and over 100 stakeholders. The project team found that the New Work website, Community Reporters, word of mouth and referrals all working particularly effectively in engaging the people of Cornwall.

The team also ran several 'Discovery Days' please visit the New Work website for more details.

20th August 2010: A little introduction to New Work

11th August 2010: Discovery Day at Carn Brea

The project team explored the value of communication - what messages work and what don't, what approaches work and what don't. For example, outreach activities are unpredictable but truly insightful when they work. Business engagement is difficult but necessary. Community networks are pivotal, especially in a rural area like Cornwall, as are social and digital networks.

28th July 2010: Community Reporting

New Work ran a Community Reporter Scheme as an opportunity for people to improve their CV, meet lots of interesting people and help bring some much needed help and information to those facing redundancy or wanting to improve their skills so they feel more secure their employment future.

They recruited people who were passionate about Cornwall and change to gain new skills and though didn't necessarily have any media experience or knowledge. The scheme was about talking to people, istening, and being enthusiastic about finding out what people expect and want from new employment and the potential market gaps.

Working with professional mentors, the reporters learned how to shoot and edit simple film clips, tell stories, blog and spread the word through social media – as well as improving communication skills and confidence no end.

If you'd like to find out more, please email helen.gilchrist@newworkcornwall.co.uk

28th June 2010: Sandwich Van Outreach

As part of the co-discovery stage, we used existing Sandwich Vans to access a higher volume of participants in difficult to reach areas. Through this, we have learnt that people affected by redundancy and unemployment come in all shapes and sizes, with all types of skills and experiences. But one thing is certain - the more support and service people receive, the more engaged and confident they become in creating goals. Through further co-discovery and co-design, we are exploring the value of participants not just receiving advice and mentoring, but providing it too - peer-to-peer support where people help each other.

26th May 2010: You talked, We Listened

After talking to almost two hundred people, we responded to what they, you, have told us by organising several workshops at the Hall For Cornwall between 7th and 18th June. These workshops became the start of a conversation about exactly how we could help, responding to your needs not ours, and giving you more general advice and support in the areas that interest you.

Monday 7th June, 9-12.30 or 1.30-5. Life / career coaching: Assess your goals for the future and learn how to make them a reality.
Wednesday 9th June, 9-12.30 or 1.30-5. Teaching: Want to teach or transfer your teaching skills to a new career?
Thursday 10th June, 10-4. Digital Communication / I.T: Stay ahead of the crowd
Monday 14th June, 10-4. Low Carbon Cornwall: Kick start your career in the growing environmental technology industry.
Thursday 17th June, 10-4. Enterprise and Entrepreneurship: Advice on setting up on your own.
Thursday 17th June, 6-9.30pm. New Work Workshop: Identify and access the funding and skills you need to help you on your way to your chosen career path.
Friday 18th June, 10-4. Best Impression Session: CV writing, interview techniques and employability.

17th May 2010: Open Doors Workshop

Thank you to all the "Enablers" (those organisations who provide skills and support programmes in Cornwall) who attended our Open Doors workshop. There were about 30 people present, of all levels. People who had made a career of getting others back into work, the ideal crowd to help us put the New Work directory of services to the test. The directory, or the Enabler's Matrix as we call it, is a list of all of the back to work services in Cornwall and who is eligible to use them.

12th May 2010: Out and About in Cornwall

The New Work team travelled around Cornwall, visiting local people from Liskeard to Penzance. You can read about their travels and the stories that they have discovered by visiting the New Work Cornwall website here.

10th May 2010: My Adventures in the Big Red Van!

Emma and the team were all over the place last in May 2010 in our big red van. We visited supermarkets all over Cornwall with our 1967 split screen camper, Scarlett, she turned some heads!

After the week was through we had over 150 people to get in touch with and had handed at least another 100 people our contact details, but most importantly we spread the word about New Work. Take a closer look at what we we got up to here...

3rd May 2010: Keep the Faith in Us

So...the Dott campervan went to Lemon Quay Truro, Redruth, Penzance, St Austelland Bodmin. It was really interesting to read the feedback of all the lovely people we spoke to. Not one person we encountered who was made redundant received support from their employer. Why not? Virtually no one has heard of any of the skills and support programmes that are currently available to them. Again, why not? read more

23rd April 2010: Finding Fishermen

My research buddy Lisa and I had a scenic drive down to Newlyn to have a chat with some fishermen.

I started off by going to see W.Stevenson & Sons, a fish sales business that had made some redundancies. They were very helpful and gave a talk on how the fishing industry works. I found out that instead of the fishermen being made redundant it was in fact the admin staff that had been let go.

From what I could tell it was jobs in admin that supported the fishing industry that were at risk, not the fisherman's jobs themselves. The fishermen were driving big cars, bringing in big hauls and I didn't see any sign of their industry declining. Emma Dyer

Are you in the fishing industry, is this the case?

14th April 2010: Word on the Street!

My name is Emma and I helped with the New Work project. I went out and about in Cornwall spreading the news about New Work and met a lot of friendly people, some with experience of redundancy, some lucky enough to have none, but all of them with something to contribute to the project.

I met engineers that want to share their job searching tips with the world, ICT specialists talking about endless new job opportunities in their area and bank managers - ecstatic over the new lease of life redundancy has given them.