The Hull FC Community Foundation has received over £80,000 of funding from the Henry Smith Charity to help local people boost their employability skills.

Last year, the Community Foundation announced it had received a similar grant from the Henry Smith Charity to tackle homelessness in the local area.

Now, the Community Foundation endeavours to go one step further and help individuals that are struggling to build their social skills and confidence to build the platform for them to move into some form of employment.

Thanks to an additional grant from the Henry Smith Charity, the Community Foundation will launch a three-year dedicated programme of activity supporting those furthest from the labour market to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to progress into employment.

Using data ascertained from the delivery of previous holistic employment and wellbeing activities, including ‘Create’ and ‘Game Plan’, the Hull FC Community Foundation will deliver the following:

• Implementation of a ‘Skills Club’ from a new accessible location within the Newington and St Andrews Ward, an area where unemployment is highest in Hull. All adults will have access to a weekly programme of accredited qualifications within employability and functional skills as well as soft-skill activities that improve confidence, self-esteem, and social connections.
• Sustained in-person and virtual sessions offered to older adults aged 45+ who are seeking a return to employment. Access to accredited qualifications will be matched through digital upskilling sessions and a volunteering programme that instills new work readiness behaviours.
• Targeted provision for highly vulnerable groups including people living with a disability, long term health conditions, or youth offending background. This will include work with employers designed to create work experience and bespoke accredited training opportunities.

Speaking to hullfcfoundation.co.uk, Head of Community Learning Ed Grady said: “We have had a big impact on some targeted areas across the last twelve months, and we now feel that it is time to take our support to the next level with this specific programme.

“Some of our work to help people build their employability status in recent months has yielded some good success stories, so I would like to think that we can help more and more people get into work.

“I just want to thank the Henry Smith Charity for their ongoing support and I’m thoroughly looking forward to continuing to work with the fantastic people in our local community, who are truly deserving of the opportunity to lead better lives.”

For more information on this programme, please email ed.grady@hullfc.com.