Talent Match Newsletter: February 2019 Edition

As time is passing on the current programme, the Youth Leader team are working hard

to support the planning of a Youth Summit A.K.A Challenge Match Legacy.

This is to celebrate and share young people’s stories and voices on the years passed. We are

there to support young people throughout the course of a very emotional end to their journeys, by

making this event special and unique to previous Challenge Match events.

The event will recognise individuals who have gone beyond adversity and flourished in their lives.

The young people will have the chance to see friends and take part in lots of fun

challenges/activities, whilst giving feedback on their Talent Match experience. They will also be

given the opportunity to talk to employers to discuss aspirations and ask questions.

Much has been happening at Dudley since the last newsletter.

In the weeks running up to Christmas the weekly craft workshops focused on making different items to sell on a Christmas stall at Dudley college. We made a variety of things including reindeers,

decorative baubles and flower wreaths. We even had a fun game for customers to play. We had a great day and made a small profit which we are using to replenish our craft materials.

Our Hub Christmas Celebration events took place throughout December. We visited the Worcester

Victorian Christmas Market where we bought many treats – sweeties, chocolates and hot drinks to keep us going. We went to Stourbridge Theatre to see Cinderella. The tickets were sold in support of the Mary Stevens

Hospice. After the panto we managed to meet some of the cast. Our Celebration Event was held at the Dudley Canal Trust. We went on an one hour boat trip where we learnt about the history of the area. Following this we had some food and the awards/ prizes were given

out. Everyone received a Dudley Talent Match 2018 star and certificate. The employability workshops are going well. Mentees have found it useful and they have gained an employability certificate, practiced interview skills and updated their CV as part of the course. Lindsey Sharratt, a Psychologist, delivered a really interesting motivational session at the hub helping

people understand their identity and positive self image. The session was well attended from Mentees from across all hubs and they all found it really interesting. The late nights continue to be well attended on Thursday evenings with Mentees enjoy playing Youth

Leader led quizzes and cheeky bingo. We are also currently decorating Easter eggs ready for an Easter egg hunt.

As a lot of our Mentees move ever closer to the end of their Talent Match journey, or in some cases

already have, we created an online space for our leavers. This platform was chosen due to the

success we had already achieved with the individual hub pages on Facebook, where mentees have

regularly engaged with us. This idea was also well received by the mentees who sit on the Steering Group who thought this would be a useful tool for those interested. By becoming members of the Alumni page, past mentees will gain access to information about how the

Project is getting on, have an awareness of events they are welcome to attend and importantly, be kept in the loop regarding local/free training opportunities, as well as live job vacancies. This space has been

fantastic with enabling staff to share opportunities they are aware of but also great for sign posting those interested to other training if they do not currently match the essential criteria. We have also utilised this platform to circulate an optional and anonymous 10 question survey. This was

suggested at a recent Steering Group to enable us to see how the individuals have progressed since leaving the project. This was to see if they have continued to progress and whether they have

accessed other services, training or even secured employment since moving on with their journey.

Wolverhampton Update There has been a buzz around the Hub recently, everyone is still striving to make a change and overcome barriers. All the Activities are running smoothly still and the Literacy Club have developed into a Drama club as well. Attendance for male and female groups are still good with people powering through the

previous cold and wet weather. The Challenge Academy's 'Bag of Character' has been introduced a lot more now throughout the hub, meaning there are lots of fun and engaging activities to choose from.

Job and In Work Support Coach updates

Walsall Hub

Harry is 27 years old and originally came to the YMCA in Walsall to do voluntary work on Reception to gain work experience. Harry has always been sure that he would like to either work at a Call Centre, on

Reception, do administrative work or undertake Customer Service, so in 2018 he joined Talent Match.

Harry has a physical disability and mental health difficulties. At times, Harry lacked self-belief because of this, and would say “No one is going to give me a job” during sessions with his mentor. He would talk

about things that he wanted to achieve and how he was going about achieving this. He actively looked for work and also received support from his mentor and job coach to job search, apply for work and practice

interview techniques. Whilst on programme Harry obtained his Functional Skills Level 1 English and is currently studying to

obtain his Functional Skills Level 1 Mathematics.

His mentor spotted an advert for a Receptionist/Administrator position at the local Walk-in centre. Harry applied and was called for an interview. We are pleased to say that Harry was offered the position in

November 2018 and is still working there now. He maintains regular contact with his mentor and is keen to update her on his progress and the positive feedback he receives from his employer. It is evident that his

confidence and self-belief have grown!

Bilston Hub

The team have been working hard to develop their employability skills in recent months. During November

and December a number of young adults on the programme were involved in the Winter Wonderland project, where members of the local community were able to visit Santa in his magical grotto. Those who

participated were able to gain a range of skills including health & safety, customer service, marketing and set design.

The group also gained an understanding of the importance of punctuality, working with others and good personal presentation in the workplace.

Following the recent motivational talk by Jay Blades of BBC’s ‘Money for Nothing’ & ‘The Restoration

Room’, the Hub now has a budding group of furniture restorers who are working on their own shabby chic up-cycling projects with the support of our in-house expert, Lusia Combes. These sessions are helping

participants to learn more about opportunities in self-employment and how to deliver short-term projects in the ‘gig economy’.

At the end of March, a number of mentees will be leaving the current programme and we have been

focusing efforts to ensure that everyone leaves the Talent Match programme with a toolkit of skills and resources to support their onward journey into other training and employment opportunities. Thank you to

everyone who has engaged fully with the Job Coaching element of the programme, we wish you every success in your future careers.

With some of our Young Adults coming to the end of their time with Talent Match, the Business

Engagement team have been busy trying to make sure that everyone leaving us has been able to access as much information and support as possible!

We have hosted another couple of interview practice days to give everyone a chance to try out their

interview techniques!

We have been helping young people to get ready to move on with our Records of Achievement and Exit Packs. Mentors have been preparing these with young people in readiness for the next step in their

journey towards work. Exit packs include information on organisations who can assist our young people once their time on Talent Match comes to an end. Ensuring no one is left behind.

We have been keeping up our usual networking, speaking to as many employers as possible so that they

are aware of Talent Match and willing to give our young people a chance. Sophie attended EEF Technology Hub in Birmingham to find out about some exciting opportunities in

Engineering and Robotics.

With so many mentees expressing an interest in careers in gaming, Jonathan from Rebourne Studios came in to the Wolverhampton hub to tell everyone how he got started.

Lindsey Sharratt who is a published Psychologist came to our Dudley Hub to give a motivational talk to

mentees about self image and self esteem. Both mentees and mentors learnt a lot about how our brains operate to influence our actions.

BBC TV’s Jay Blades came in to Bilston Hub to tell mentees about how he moved on from gang

involvement in London to having his own successful business and becoming a TV presenter. He was truly motivational and everyone came away feeling very positive. We are talking to Jay about him continuing to

work with Talent Match in the future!

Tom, a mentee from our Dudley Hub, supported Emma recently at an event for Dudley businesses. Everyone was so impressed with Tom that two employers are keen to talk to him about job opportunities

that they have coming up.

Emma also attended a Police and Crime Commissioner event to meet businesses who are open to the idea of employing people with offending backgrounds. This should help when we are welcoming our new

mentees onto programme.

We have more interview days lined up and we are currently getting ready for Challenge Match, where we hope we can give mentees leaving us a last chance to make the links that they need!

Have you seen our 2018 Annual Report?

More case studies, more updates and more successes!

Click here to read!