Free Training for those living in North East (Newcastle Area)

princessdon

I have received an email recently that a local company to Newcastle/Northumberland are offering free training in mainly in the areas below to those unemployed (pre work programe but will consider this, or made redundant within last 6 mos or facing redundancy). it is a 2 week course covering a selection below

Am I permitted to give further details on here or is this a No No? Please report this post if this is in appropriate it is just I have no need for the knowledge but thought others may find it useful if living up here. BTW it is all foreign to me and I have no idea what any of that training is or if readily available free

CSCS TRAINING, TEST AND CARD

CCNSG SAFETY PASSPORT COURSE

RTITB - REACH OR COUNTERBALANCE FORKLIFT TRUCK LICENCE

MANUAL HANDLING

WORKING AT HEIGHT / HARNESS AWARENESS

ABRASIVE WHEELS

SLINGER BANKSMAN

FIRST AID

FIRE WARDEN

dickydonkin

princessdon wrote: »

I have received an email recently that a local company to Newcastle/Northumberland are offering free training in mainly in the areas below to those unemployed (pre work programe but will consider this, or made redundant within last 6 mos or facing redundancy). it is a 2 week course covering a selection below

Am I permitted to give further details on here or is this a No No? Please report this post if this is in appropriate it is just I have no need for the knowledge but thought others may find it useful if living up here. BTW it is all foreign to me and I have no idea what any of that training is or if readily available free

CSCS TRAINING, TEST AND CARD

CCNSG SAFETY PASSPORT COURSE

RTITB - REACH OR COUNTERBALANCE FORKLIFT TRUCK LICENCE

MANUAL HANDLING

WORKING AT HEIGHT / HARNESS AWARENESS

ABRASIVE WHEELS

SLINGER BANKSMAN

FIRST AID

FIRE WARDEN

I am not disputing this - but a two week course for free in any of the above subjects sounds a bit suspicious to me.

Health & Safety courses are in the main, quite expensive so I would suggest you remember the old adage that anything that sounds too good to be true usually is!

Hopefully it is not another scam intending to exploit the unemployed - but it wouldn't surprise me.

Just to add - all of the subjects above do not require a course lasting two weeks - for example, First Aid at Work training is generally a 4 day course (although 'appointed person' training is shorter) and that alone can cost in the region of £300 and must be carried out by a HSE approved training provider.

Matt22

dickydonkin wrote: »

I am not disputing this - but a two week course for free in any of the above subjects sounds a bit suspicious to me.

Health & Safety courses are in the main, quite expensive so I would suggest you remember the old adage that anything that sounds too good to be true usually is!

Hopefully it is not another scam intending to exploit the unemployed - but it wouldn't surprise me.

Just to add - all of the subjects above do not require a course lasting two weeks - for example, First Aid at Work training is generally a 4 day course (although 'appointed person' training is shorter) and that alone can cost in the region of £300 and must be carried out by a HSE approved training provider.

Totally agree with the above comment. A friend of mine recently paid up for a similar H&S course...they kept delaying the course dates for a month giving one or the other reason...and then one day, just disappeared. The only consolation? They charged half of what the course normally costs. But I wonder whether that consoled him. So be ware

saintjammyswine

It is likely that this is related to either ESF Skills Support for Unemployed or ESF Response to Redundancy. These are European funded projects, administered by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) usually through local FE Colleges. Referrals go through Jobcentre Plus and yes, all training is free to the client. You can PM me details of the email and I will look into it if you want.

dickydonkin

saintjammyswine wrote: »

It is likely that this is related to either ESF Skills Support for Unemployed or ESF Response to Redundancy. These are European funded projects, administered by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) usually through local FE Colleges. Referrals go through Jobcentre Plus and yes, all training is free to the client. You can PM me details of the email and I will look into it if you want.

Again - not disputing this, but assuming the OP has quoted correctly or I have misinterpreted the post, but none of the courses mentioned would last two weeks - the fork truck and first aid courses would very likely take the longest - but certainly not two weeks.

LittleVoice

dickydonkin wrote: »

Again - not disputing this, but assuming the OP has quoted correctly or I have misinterpreted the post, but none of the courses mentioned would last two weeks - the fork truck and first aid courses would very likely take the longest - but certainly not two weeks.

Yes, there is a misinterpretation.

The post says the course is two weeks "covering a selection" of the items listed. That would mean that the two weeks could be made up of a number of two-day courses providing certification in particular areas - a group of individual short courses linked to a specific work area.

princessdon

It says slection of the courses. I can PM the details to someone who can check?

It came via the JC+ mailing list so I assume it is legit but the last thing I wanted to do was a) breach board regulations or b) post something dodgy.

But it seemed a good opportunity for those who may need it.

dickydonkin

LittleVoice wrote: »

Yes, there is a misinterpretation.

The post says the course is two weeks "covering a selection" of the items listed. That would mean that the two weeks could be made up of a number of two-day courses providing certification in particular areas - a group of individual short courses linked to a specific work area.

Other than the fork truck 'certificate' (limited use if the provider is not RTITB accredited) and there are many experienced fork truck drivers unemployed incidentally - I fail to see how obtaining any of the certificates listed would significantly enhance the chances of getting a job - particularly up here.

There are also many experienced people in the construction industry who hold relevant accreditation who are also looking for work.

Abrasive wheels and slinger/banksman are very job specific - as are working at heights and harness training. These courses are generally provided to employees in task related jobs and are paid for by their employer or in many cases, carried out 'in house'.

As for manual handling, the majority of people already in employment should already have had a basic MH awareness course.

I have overseen a risk assesment course that was provided by a further education establishment and it was very poor in content and presentation - but that said - if these are indeed provided for free, then go for it - just make sure it is 'legit' despite it seemingly coming from a JCP source.

I get emails from 'Barclays' - but because it states Barclays in my inbox - they are always phishing scams........just make sure the source is genuine.

princessdon

dickydonkin wrote: »

Other than the fork truck 'certificate' (limited use if the provider is not RTITB accredited) and there are many experienced fork truck drivers unemployed incidentally - I fail to see how obtaining any of the certificates listed would significantly enhance the chances of getting a job.

There are also many experienced people in the construction industry who hold relevant accreditation who are also looking for work.

Abrasive wheels and slinger/banksman are very job specific - as are working at heights and harness training. These courses are generally provided to employees in task related jobs and are paid for by their employer or in many cases, carried out 'in house'.

As for manual handling, the majority of people already in employment should already have had a basic MH awareness course.

I have overseen a risk assesment course that was provided by a further education establishment and it was very poor in content and presentation - but that said - if these are indeed provided for free, then go for it.

If I pm you the details can you look at it?

dickydonkin

princessdon wrote: »

If I pm you the details can you look at it?

No problems - I live in Durham and I may have heard of the company.

It may very well be genuine, but I am surprised that the jobcentre have not targeted their 'customers' as funding is tight and I would be very surprised if they would pay for someone whose background is retail (for example) to go on a work at height or abrasive wheel course.

Certainly when I was attending the jobentre a few years back, there was no money available for any training courses - or so I was told - so I suspect funding would be even tighter now.

If it is genuine, then I would go for the first aid course (probable an appointed person course) as that would be generic to most workplaces - obviously, the others are more task/trade specific and may not be of any use to many.

But certainly pm me the message and I will have a look at it.

saintjammyswine

dickydonkin wrote: »

No problems - I live in Durham and I may have heard of the company.

It may very well be genuine, but I am surprised that the jobcentre have not targeted their 'customers' as funding is tight and I would be very surprised if they would pay for someone whose background is retail (for example) to go on a work at height or abrasive wheel course.

Certainly when I was attending the jobentre a few years back, there was no money available for any training courses - or so I was told - so I suspect funding would be even tighter now.

If it is genuine, then I would go for the first aid course (probable an appointed person course) as that would be generic to most workplaces - obviously, the others are more task/trade specific and may not be of any use to many.

But certainly pm me the message and I will have a look at it.

The funding is not from Jobcentre Plus, they are simply the referring agency to the providers (usually colleges, not always) as JCP can provide the required evidence that candidate is on relevant benefits. It is European Social Fund (ESF) money administered by the SKills Funding Agency (SFA). The courses are longer than the standard course e.g. Food safety = 1 day as there is a requirement within the contract to
1. provide employability type training
2. support in job searching
3. providers get paid based on how many hours they are in contact with the candidate (in bands e.g. 10 - 29 hours, 30 - 44 hours)
4. part of the course must be accredited and fundable on LARA (database of courses used by training providers) so Food Safety is not but can be linked to other elements.