Employers will be able to choose from a menu of options to help them recruit staff with the appropriate levels of skill, experience and availability.  The Agency will also offer practical support to employers including organising interviews, advertising vacancies and organising job-fairs.  Jobseekers will be supported to access job opportunities, or to take up suitable training or personal development opportunities to support them in their journey towards employment. Jobseekers from across the North Wales Coast Regeneration Area will be eligible for the service, which will operate from premises at the White Rose Shopping Centre in Rhyl. The service is planned to open its doors to the public in April 2012.

RhylCity Strategy in collaboration with Bangor University has recently been successful in securing funding for a KESS PhD project.  Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS) is a major European Convergence programme led by Bangor University on behalf of the HE sector in Wales.  RhylCity Strategy’s KESS project, Working Well, will be assessing the efficacy of a range of key existing interventions to support the economically inactive to enter or remain in the workforce.  In particular, it will be looking at developing and assessing complimentary positive psychology interventions (e.g. confidence, motivation, strengths, self-efficacy).  The project will also develop and assess the efficacy of interventions to improve the resilience and coping skills of those who are in employment but at risk of becoming unemployed.  Mandy Shanks has recently been appointed to take the research forward, with academic supervision from Dr John Parkinson from Bangor University’s School of Psychology. 

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Gold Standard for Rhyl City Strategy 

Rhyl City Strategy has achieved the first Gold Small Workplace Health Award in Wales for its work to maintain and improve the health and well-being of its staff. The Small Workplace Health Award is funded and accredited by the Welsh Government, as part of its Healthy Working Wales programme to support improvements in the health of the working age population.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Jewell, said “The Welsh Government launched the Small Workplace HealthAward in 2009 to specifically engage businesses and organisations with less than 50 employees in our healthy workplaces initiatives. We are delighted to see the first employer progress to the prestigious Gold award and congratulate Rhyl City Strategy on their achievement.”

Alongside developing health-promoting policies for staff, Rhyl City Strategy organised ‘lunch and learn’ sessions on healthy eating and alcohol awareness, a session on techniques for managing pressure and stress and a team-building adventure event in Betws-y-Coed. Staff members have each developed a set of personal health and well-being goals.  

The independent assessor, Ava Fine, said: “This is a well-deserved award. Rhyl City Strategy is an exemplar employer where the health and well-being of staff is firmly embedded in the organisation’s culture. It is proof that such an enlightened approach helps boost the morale of employees and produces a happy workplace. We commend their example to other SMEs across Wales.”

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  New Intermediate Labour Market programmes; supported employment opportunities through Rhyl City Strategy

RhylCity Strategy has been successful in winning two contracts with WCVA’sIntermediate Labour Market programme. The contracts will provide 62 economically inactive people with training and a period of supported employment. The first contract is aimed at 16-17 year olds living in South West and West Rhyl, and will offer 26 weeks’ employment.  The second is aimed at those aged 50+, those with limited health conditions as well as candidates from black and ethnic minority backgrounds living in Denbighshire and Conwy, and will offer 14 weeks’ employment.

 All participants will gain accreditation during their time with a host employer in a variety of roles and sectors and will learn about the organisations they are placed with.  A varied range of job roles will be on offer within retail and customer service, leisure, business administration and IT, hospitality and catering, horticulture, countryside management and construction.

 The Intermediate Labour Market Scheme is funded by the Welsh Government, European Structural Fund and Communities First.  It is managed by Wales Council for Voluntary Action, the umbrella body for the third sector in Wales.

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Taste.academy opens its doors  

Rhyl City Strategy’s new training cafe and restaurant has opened its doors to the public this Easter, offering a new dining experience in a stylish and unique setting. Situated on Rhyl’s East Parade, Taste.academy has been developed as one of RhylCity Strategy’s cornerstone initiatives in partnership with Rathbone Cymru, CJIW, North Wales Women’s Centre and LlandrilloCollege, in order to provide the long-term unemployed with quality skills training and supported employment opportunities in a real work environment. Michelin trained manager Suzanne Wilbrahamhas created a mouth-watering menu for both restaurant and café dining, within a stylish interior created by award-winning designer Jamie Alcock. The restaurant is taking daytime bookings for conferences and meetings, while the caféis open 10 to 10 Tues-Sat, and 10-5 Sun-Mon. Taste.academy has been established with funding support from the Welsh Assembly Government, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Conwy/Denbighshire Substance Misuse Action Team. Contact 01745 344442. www.tasteacademy.co.uk

First Minister Visit

First Minister CarwynJones AM met with the Rhyl City Strategy Executive Board and other key stakeholders during a visit to the area on Thursday 13^thJanuary. After listening to a presentation on some of the key achievements of the past year, the First Minister took part in a discussion on some of the main challenges faced by the partnership in tackling local unemployment. Before leaving, he called in to see work in progress at Rhyl City Strategy’s new Training Restaurant at East Parade, Rhyl. The restaurant is currently being refurbished and is due to open its doors to the public in April 2011.

Step Up Project 

 ‘‘Step Up’ is a multi-agency mobile information bus that has been developed by South West RhylCommunities First in partnership with RhylCity Strategy and a range of other organisations. The fully refurbished bus offers tea/coffee facilities, comfortable seating, a lift for accessibility, a confidential meeting space and IT access, with information and support offered on a range of issues.  For  further information and a calendar of scheduled visits:- http://stepupprojectinformationbus.blogspot.com/                          

“WORKING WELL”:  A good practice seminar on health and employment

Rhyl City Strategy’s Fit for Work Service is currently taking bookings for our forthcoming “WORKING WELL” event, which is taking place on 11^thNovember 2010 at Rhyl Town Hall. This free seminar offers an opportunity to find out about good practice in employment and health, and will showcase a range of initiatives to support and improve workplace health, including workshops on the new ‘Fit Note’, the Small Workplace Health Award, Healthy Working Wales and Flexible Working. John Griffiths, Director of work2health, Cardiff, will be the event’s keynote speaker. The event should be of particular interest to employers and health professionals.
                  

Fit for Work Service Launch

Rhyl City Strategy launched its new Fit for Work Service in Rhyl on 30^thJune 2010. Over 85 delegates attended the event at RhylTown Hall to hear about the new service, which is offering support to help people with health problems to stay in work.  Dame Carol Black, National Director for Healthand Work, gave an inspiring keynote speech, with Matt Downton from the Welsh Assembly Government setting out the Welsh context, and Gareth Matthews and Rukhsana Nugent from Rhyl City Strategy outlining how the Service has been developed locally to offer support to local employees and businesses. Rhylis one of 11 areas taking part in a national Fit for Work Service pilot to look at whether early intervention can prevent a slide from short term sick leave into longer term sickness absence. The Service has been developed locally in partnership with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Public Health Wales.                           

Rhyl Young People meet HRH the Prince of Wales                          

A group of young people from Rhyl were among the lucky participants chosen to meet HRH Prince of Wales at a Princes Trust Cymru event held in Portmeirion village, Gwynedd on 29^thJune 2010. The young people had all recently taken part in Princes Trust Cymru’s Get Into Construction and Get Into Hospitality courses, two-week courses that support young unemployed people aged 16-30 to develop skills and improve their employability.  The courses were funded through RhylCity Strategy’s Careers Ladder programme, which receives funding from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Department of Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills. The young people who had been invited along to the day spoke enthusiastically withthe Prince about their experiences on the Get Into programme, and how it has helped them find work in their chosen sectors. Twelve of the participants have been supported into employment with local employers following their successful completion of the two week course.                           

Welsh Government’s Department for Education and Skills has awarded £150,000 to Rhyl City Strategy to develop an exciting new service that will meet the needs of local employers and provide an effective recruitment service for local jobseekers.  The Open Doors Recruitment Agency will match jobseekers to vacancies in the areas of retail, administration, hospitality and catering, social care, tourism and leisure, construction and environment.