T Skills Diversity Programme: FAQ Document for Partner Applicants

T Skills Diversity Programme: FAQ document for Partner Applicants

What are the aims of the T Skills Diversity programme and who is it for?

The principal aims of the T Skills Diversity programme is to identify, recruit and develop 60 ‘Diamonds’ aged 16-21 from Birmingham. All participants are to come from the city’s diverse population and with an identifiable disadvantage to entering the creative and cultural sector. The intention is to unlock a fresh pool of talent that would potentially go unnoticed, providing new opportunities for under-represented and disadvantaged groups. Focused on developing their creative and cultural skills, the programme’s intention is to take these 60 Diamonds from diverse backgrounds on a journey from engagement to employment.

What is meant by ‘diverse backgrounds’?

By diverse backgrounds we mean young people whose economic, cultural, religious or personal circumstances place them at a disadvantage in securing employment within the creative & cultural industries.

How will we identify the 60 Diamonds?

Once the partnership is established we will be able to formulate a clear strategy based upon existing contacts of the partners, their current work in communities and how we best promote the offer to those outside of the educational system (e.g. via JobCentre Plus). There are clear wards and locations across Birmingham that have been identified by the City Council as areas with multiple deprivation criteria, and the schools and colleges in these areas will be a natural starting point. Further information on where these are can be found on the City Council website here.

Are all young people aged 16-21 who come from a ‘diverse background’ eligible?

Our full aim is to be as inclusive as possible and provide an opportunity for all. However, as an element of the programme is based in the workplace and there are clear volunteering opportunities for participants working with the public, so adequate assessments of risk will need to be undertaken. We will seek ‘sponsors’ from all applicants who can vouch for them - such as their college or community centre leader - who can provide a character reference. DBS checks shall be carried out wherever applicable, and it would be fully expected that any applicant that has a conviction for serious or sexual assault will not be a participant on the T Skills programme. All applicants will be asked to self-declare convictions during the process.

All Diamonds will be required to sign an agreement where clear codes of conduct will be explicitly stated; all members of the partnership will then be able to hold participants to account.

What is needed from the partnership?

The partners selected to deliver the T Skills Diversity programme in 2017 will be required to work together as a team to design a high quality offer for the 60 Diamonds; supporting the promotion, recruitment and progression activity required to help young people be better prepared for applying for work to entry level jobs in the creative and cultural sector. The principle is to provide access to quality experiences and support across a breadth of skills. This is not about developing an art form or for exceptional achievers within their own areas of performance; the programme is to give young people with a genuine interest in culture and creativity an opportunity to gain insight into the sector and understand the underpinning skills required to be successful - from customer service, to backstage, to marketing, to front of house and curation.

Employers of people into entry-level positions commonly seek applicants with a good breadth of knowledge and understanding about the whole business and do not require technical specialists; the partnership’s aim is to develop that knowledge and understanding through practical learning so they are in the best position possible to apply to those entry-level roles and be competitive.

What are the different elements to the programme, and does each partner have to deliver all of them?

There are primarily 4 elements to the programme journey:

Whilst partners are expected to understand and support all elements during the participant’s journey, the primary focus of this particular opportunity is for partners to design and deliver a high quality Skills Development course, which has a minimum 30 learning hours attached and supports the development of at least one of the following skills:

The course will need to be delivered between April and December 2017 and it is expected that it will only need to be delivered once for a cohort of up 15 Diamonds; however if you think you can run it on multiple occasions please do highlight this in your proposal submission.

What does the delivery of the Skills Development course look like? Does it have to be accredited?

All 60 Diamonds will need to access at least 3 of these courses during their development journey, so careful planning and scheduling of the courses will be needed across the partnership. All delivery must be out of school/college hours, so needs to take place at weekends, evenings and out of term time (term dates can be found here). Through your proposal, clearly indicate:

•What set of skills you will seek to develop, including your previous experience in doing this with cohorts of young people

•How you propose to facilitate the course, including where you intend to host any
training and who will be delivering it

•The proposed method of assessing skills that are being developed

The course being delivered does not need to be accredited and attached to a formal qualification, however if you are able to do so and package it as a part of the course offer to participants, please do clearly state this within your proposal.

Can I apply in partnership with other organisations?

Individual companies may decide to partner with someone else to submit a proposal to produce and deliver a course on a particular skills development area; that is absolutely fine. What we would ask is that within proposals you state:

•the names of individual organisations

•clear areas of delivery responsibility

•a named person who will be responsible for coordinating the partnership and will act as the ‘quality assurer’ of the delivery

The budget remains £4,000 per award regardless of the number of partners included within any individual proposal.

What is the Volunteer Development Programme and what will I need to do?

This is a programme for volunteers and is run by the Culture Central partnership. As a part of the T Skills offer, we are looking to integrate this training programme for the Diamonds to participate in. More information will become available on what this is and how it features as a part of the wider programme over the coming months. There is no specific commitment needed from potential partners at this stage.

What will you be looking for in the proposal submissions?

Please look at the associated document ’T Skills Diversity Programme: Review Criteria outline for proposal submissions’ to find further
information on how we will be reviewing the submission proposals. As highlighted, we are looking to create a partnership that is diverse and expansive in its reach and potential offer; our fundamental aim is to provide a real breadth of opportunity for our Diamonds to experience, and that must be reflected in our final partnership.

What key timescales do I need to be aware of?

Short-term dates for your diary:

•Proposal submission deadline - 5 pm on Thursday 19th January 2017

•Confirmation of partner success - 5 pm on Thursday 26th January 2017

•Planning Day with successful partners - w.c. 20th February 2017 (exact day TBC)

Delivery timelines can be found in the table below.