Building skills and removing barriers - Get Into Construction

Picture taken pre-Pandemic

As part of our current Community Learning programme, funded by Liverpool Adult Learning Service, in addition to delivering courses based on community needs we have also been asked to focus on a number of areas specified by the ALS.  One of these is construction.

We've considered developing construction courses in the past, but have always come up against barriers to deliver, so we have never achieved this goal.

This year however, everything seems to be falling into place!

The main barrier to people getting into construction is the CSCS card.  To qualify for this card, you need to have a qualification in a specified subject area and undertake a separate Health & Safety test which is only available at selected approved centres.  Once you have both these certificates you can apply for the basic CSCS card.

We have managed to identified a partner who can deliver the Level 1 Award in Health & Safety
within a Construction Environment, on our behalf.  We are working with the Department of Work and Pensions via contacts at the local Job Centres to access funding for learners to complete the Health & Safety test and of set the cost of the CSCS card.

With these elements now in place we started to look how we might recruit to the course.  We know from previous experience that our Roma communities have always been keen to gain a CSCS card because they have the skills and work experience from the different countries, but they have been unable to access construction work because they don't have the required recognised qualifications in the UK.  We used this as our starting point and produced a poster in Romanian to encourage registrations.

When we started promoting the course to the Roma community, we assumed that the majority of the learners interested in this course would be men - how wrong were we!  We have been delighted by the interest shown by Roma women and 9 have already registered. Another great thing about this course is that because we are using a partner to deliver it, we can also provide a translator for this learner group so that we can ensure our learners are not disadvantaged by English being their second language.

One of the ladies who has registered, originally contacted us as she wanted to register her partner and had called to get support filling in the online registration form.  Whilst we were talking to her she asked us “But a woman can not register?”.  We know that Roma families can be very traditional, but it seems perceptions are starting to change and we were delighted that we were asked this question. We told her, that of course we can have women on this course.   We explained that women representatives are needed in this industry to help break stereotypes. We completed her registration onto the course and once we did she went and shared this information her friends in the Roma community and we now have 9 registrations from Roma woman for the “Get Into Construction” course. 

It is lovely to empower women and give them new career opportunities in a workspace mostly reserved for men and we are delighted to be breaking the mould in this field and encouraging women to have a positive impact on their community. 

GTDT providing hot freshly cooked meals in the Riverside Ward.

Since late 2020, GTDT have purchased food from Fairshare, to be distributed amongst some residents within the Riverside Ward.

Every Wednesday, Gill, from GTDT, prepares home made freshly prepared meals,and an estimated 600 meals have been delivered during the course of the past few months.

Many tasty dishes are prepared, cooked and delivered the same day. These dishes have included Cream of Leek and Potato soup, Cottage Pie, Corned Beef Hash, Lentil and Ham soup, Spaghetti Bolognese, and a lovely Irish Stew, made specially for St Patrick's Day, to name a few.

Gill, creates some fabulous dishes and is very creative in the kitchen, making sure there is something different on the menu each week.

Betty, one of the local Riverside residents said, "I really look forward to my meals being delivered, they are amazing and delicious, I always have something to look forward to on a Wednesday now".  Betty went on to say, "Thank you to all those involved in getting these hot meals out to me, GTDT are my little angels".

GTDT's Clothes Rail team supporting Asylum Link in Wavertree

GTDT's latest Community Clothes Rail road trip, was to offer support to Asylum Link, based in Overbury Street, L7.

Asylum Link is a dedicated organisation supporting Asylum Seekers and Refugees throughout Liverpool, offering help and advice to many Refugees that have arrived in the city.

Asylum Link is also dedicated to raising public awareness on issues surrounding Refugees, offering a safe place for people from all over the world to meet and learn more about the city and resources that are available to them. 

GTDT Community Clothes Rail team recently met up with Sammy, one of the Support Officers at Asylum Link, and GTDT were more than happy to donate 20 bags of clothing to the organisation.

Sammy said, "Many of the people that come to Asylum Link, arrive in this country with just the clothes they are wearing.  Many have fled their countries in fear for their own safety and to receive this donation of clothing from GTDT will go a long way in giving the people that come here the extra help that they really need".

Sammy said "On behalf of all the staff and service users we would like to say a great big thank you! GTDT's support is very much appreciated and welcomed".

Our new course is on the rise!

We are always on the lookout for new ideas and courses that will encourage people to engage with new ways of learning and we think our latest course is a real winner!

Our new 6 week Basic Bread Making course will provide learners with a FREE bread making machine, an ingredients starter kit, simple and tasty recipe suggestions as well as support, activities and a wealth of resources.

Stop loafing around and register today - https://bit.ly/33xhHin

CENSUS 2021- Tick your Box

GTDT was contacted by Office for National Statistics and Roma Support Group to represent the Roma from Liverpool.  Organisations from London, Bradford, Ipswich, Rotherham and Liverpool was part of this. We want to say a big thank you to invite us to be in their national campaign.  We really appreciate the involvement of ONS in this.