This presentation was delivered at People Helping People - The future of public services - 3rd September 2014. For more information on the event visit http://www.nesta.org.uk/event/people-helping-people-future-public-services

1. Nesta’s work on Innovation in Jobs
•Making the case for more systematic innovation in the labour market
•Mapping the best new innovations that create jobs and help people into work
•A strong focus on understanding what works through our Standards of Evidence
•Supporting the best innovations to scale and reach more people

3. Creating & shaping new markets
mobilising capital (e.g. complementary currencies), supporting growth sectors and new markets (e.g. developing the green economy)
Supporting entrepreneurship & enterprise
business services (e.g. start- up support), business incubation, funding and training for self-employment
Intermediaries that improve matching
employer pooling, web- platforms for flexible working (e.g. task-matching sites), new approaches to careers advice, individualised job- matching services
21st century employability
new approaches to employment support (e.g. career coaching, resilience- building), platforms to showcase skills and build professional networks
Blurring work & learning
bringing work into the classroom (e.g. business mentoring in schools) and supported job opportunities (e.g. apprenticeships)
Jobs Innovators

4. Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund – priority on helping people into work
We reviewed more than 400 expressions of interest are backing 6 leading innovators scale up their impact. Key features of successful approaches include:
•Volunteer mentors helping people into work
•Corporate volunteering linking employers and unemployed people
•Participation in social action as a route to building skills and gaining employment

5. Volunteering and Employment – Key Issues
•We know that volunteering builds skills and employability – but how do we make sure people who are furthest from work can benefit from opportunities?
•How can we design social action opportunities to provide practical routes into employment?
•What partnerships do we need to form?
•How can we improve our evidence of what works?

6. VIY Volunteer It Yourself
Tim Reading, Director, Cospa

7. VIY – The Big Idea
VIY challenges young people to fix youth clubs in urgent need of repair and to learn trade and building skills in the process.
The young people are mentored on the job by local tradespeople, who also volunteer their time, and can earn a vocational qualification and progress to further training, work placement and apprenticeship opportunities.

8. VIY – enabled by Wickes
Each youth club is matched with, and supported by, a local Wickes store. The local store donates tools and materials, as well as mobilising its trade customers and staff as skills mentors.
In return, stores use VIY to build closer relationships with existing and potential trade customers, raise community profile, generate PR, and motivate and inspire staff.

9. VIY – partners

10. Over first two years ….

11. 59 club buildings improved
Hall Green Boxing Club, Birmingham

12. 1,299 young people involved
VIY participants, Studio3Arts Youth Club, Barking

13. 1,047 young people gaining a City & Guilds accreditation
VIY graduates, Pedro Youth Club, Hackney

14. 293 tradespeople volunteering
Wickes customers Alex Nadeem and Imran Younas, with VIY participant Danny

15. 96 young people directly progressing to employment
Amina and Claire at Studio3Arts, Barking, have both progressed to jobs as a direct result of taking part in VIY

16. VIY graduates (plus mentors) at Streatham Youth & Community Trust
270 young people directly progressing to further training and work experience opportunities

17. •Evolving VIY into a community interest company
•Project will double in size (vs 2012-2014): 120 locations UK-wide
•Unlocking income generation opportunities related to training and employment outcomes for future sustainability
•Introducing chance for young people to earn new C&G ‘personal development and general employability skills’ qualification alongside trade skills vocational qualification
•Setting up Cospa/VIY as a certified C&G training provider and therefore taking skills assessment element in-house
•Better tracking of indirect employment outcomes for VIY graduates beyond the project
•Extending relationships with building contractors to increase employment pathways
Next phase: 2014-2016

18. Cathedral Volunteer
Programme
Tracy Fishwick
Director
Vol-ition

19. The big idea: Cathedrals as iconic places to stimulate social change
•A distinctive volunteer programme
•Employment as a primary outcome
•Integrity - volunteering very distinct from conditionality and mandated activity
•Personal - no goodbyes

20. The volunteer journey
Engage
•Volunteer roles promoted via Jobcentre Plus
•People come to open day at the Cathedral
•They CHOOSE to be involved
•They are SELECTED
Volunteer
•Minimum of 10 weeks
•½ day per week
•Added value
•Skills
•Work Club
•Employer buy-in
•Support – dedicated co-ordinator
Employ / progress
•Mock interviews
•Guaranteed interviews
•Qualifications and certificates
•Reference
•No ‘goodbyes’
•JOB
•EDUCATION
•STAY AS A VOLUNTEER

21. C is a lone parent with very low self confidence, 13 years out of work with 3 school age children. Her previous work experience was casual bar/catering work and some childcare with no real sustained employment. She was very quiet and couldn’t see where her future was heading.
C started as a welcomer, meeting and greeting visitors to the Cathedral. She felt supported by the other volunteers on duty and formed a close bond with them. She grew so much confidence she read at a service for 300 volunteers and helps with the recruitment and induction of new volunteers.
C has continued volunteering for 11 months, while coping with a house move due to bedroom tax, the break-up of a violent relationship and the death of her closest friend. In this time her health has improved, she has cut down on smoking and lost over 2 stone in weight. She has almost completed her Guide badge, has secured employment and continues to volunteer every week.
Case study

22. Over first two years

23. 221 volunteers engaged

25. 29 Employer Partnerships

26. 97 directly in to employment

27. Training and Personal Development
120 Level 1 Employability Qualifications
NVQs
Manual Handling
Continued Volunteering
IT courses
Admin Courses
Mentoring New Volunteers
First Aid

28. Next phase 2014-16
•Charitable Incorporated Organisation – establish the brand and governance of VOL-ITION
•From 80 volunteers p.a. to 720 over next 3 years
•Replicating and scaling e.g. Liverpool, North West, Rochester Cathedrals
•Widening income generation, and therefore reach, sustainability and innovation, beyond JCP
•Measuring and comparing impact

29. Panel Discussion
Tracy Fishwick, Manchester Cathedral Volunteer Programme Tim Reading, Director, Cospa Raj Patel, Wickes Boyd Wood, Senior Policy Adviser, Department for Work and Pensions Chaired by Chris Norris, Programme Manager, Nesta