3SC has been recognised by DWP and Jobcentre Plus as being the top performing national provider on Future Jobs Fund (FJF) and also held the largest combined award of any national provider.
3SC's employment providers report that it is a clear strength of civil society organisation service delivery that an individual's work opportunity is typically sustained afterwards, either in the same job or in another one in the sector. Many roles are sustained because the employee has benefitted the organisation and enabled it to further generate sufficient income to support and sustain the job. The particular strength of FJF was that the participants gained very valuable skills because the opportunities were in real jobs, and not on training programmes or temporary placements.
The Work and Pensions Committee Report 'Youth Unemployment and the Future Jobs Fund' states, 'Overall, employers were impressed by the young people they recruited through FJF and believed that they had benefitted significantly from the contributions made by these individuals. The Government, working through Jobcentre Plus and its Work Programme, should consider how it can encourage more employers to open up their recruitment processes to young people who lack experience but who have the capacity to make a valuable contribution.'
With this experience under our belt, 3SC is well equipped for our current prime status work in delivering Access to Work assessments in Wales and our work with primes and CSO providers in the delivery of the Work Programme across England. We provide opportunities for organisations of all sizes to deliver both end-to-end and specialist services.
Over a thousand referrals have already been made by our Work Programme providers and the focus has quickly moved from initial referrals to gaining actual job outcomes for clients, many of whom are being empowered to make great changes in their lives through the support they are being given, often after having been unemployed for a significant amount of time. We will be bringing you some case studies of some of these individuals shortly.