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Discover Work Challenge Fund 2024-2029 Awarded

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Discover Work are delighted to announce the outcome of our Challenge Fund 2024 – 2029.

All in Dundee have been successful and will continue their transformational role alongside Dundee City Council as Providers of our Employability Pathway programme. All in Dundee consists of ENABLE, Barnardo’s, Helm Training, Street League, One Parent Families Scotland, Volunteering Matters and Alexander Community Development with ongoing links to Hillcrest Futures, Dundee International Women’s Centre, Penumbra, Salvation Army and Showcase the Street.

Each of the partners bring their own specialisms and unique added value, and all share a common goal of supporting people to find the right opportunities and support in a way that suits them.

Operations Manager for ENABLE Works, Gemma Falconer told us: “All in Dundee are excited to continue our work as part of the new Employability Pathway programme and work together with Discover Work partners to continue improving positive destinations across the city. We are committed to providing services that are easy to access, based within local communities across Dundee, offering support that is tailored to each individual’s needs and provides pathways into fair, sustainable work.”

You can follow All in Dundee on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn.

To tell us how we can help people in your area of work or community, please contact us.

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Social Work Academy in partnership with Dundee City Council

Referrals are now open for the upcoming Social Work Academy in partnership with Dundee City Council’s Children’s and Community Justice Social Work Service.

  • 3 week course, training for the role of Social Care Officer at Dundee City Council
  • Gain work experience in one of Dundee’s residential homes for children & young people
  • Ideal preparation for a rewarding career in social work and youth work
  • Opportunities to gain vocational qualifications on the job
  • Ongoing support from an employability key worker
  • Guaranteed interviews upon completion of course
  • Applicants must be able to register with SSSC and join the PVG scheme
  • Open to unemployed and underemployed Dundee residents*

Information session:
When: 10am, Tuesday 20th February 2024
Where: The Shore, 15 Shore Terrace, Dundee, DD1 3DN

PVG Registration:
Wednesday 21st February 2024

Course dates:
Monday 26th February to Friday 15th March 2024

Referrals and enquiries:
contact@discoverworkdundee.co.uk




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Challenge Fund 2024-2029

On behalf of Discover Work, Dundee City Council is delighted to launch this latest Challenge Fund and is inviting applications to deliver support in a new Employability Pathway programme for five years from 1 April 2024.

The value of the fund is estimated to be £2.6m per annum and is open to eligible organisations who want to realise the strategic vision and goals set out in Discover Work Strategy 2022-2027 and support our Community Wealth Building approach to economic development. We wish to build upon improvements to date with further funding due to be devolved from Scottish Government to Local Employability Partnerships via No One Left Behind.

Our aim is to remove structural inequalities experienced by residents that prevent their access to employability support, and their potential participation and sustainment in education, training, or employment.  We ask the network of potential Employability Providers and wider partner organisations to maximise this opportunity for system change and rethink the way we work for the benefit of customers and employers. 

Organisations can request a copy of the Challenge Fund Application Pack by emailing partnership@discoverworkdundee.co.uk.

A timetable for the advertisement, application, and assessment process is provided below.  All other information is provided in the Application Pack. 

Key MilestonesDayDateDays since previous Milestone
Advertisement published onlineTuesday19/12/2023–
Last Date for questions to be submitted to Discover Work *Monday12/02/202455
Closing Date for the Submission of Applications                    4pm onMonday19/02/20247
Assessment and Clarification Process Commences **Monday19/02/20240
Assessment and Clarification Process EndsFriday15/03/202425
Notification of Outcome(s)Friday15/03/20240
Challenge Fund Award Letter(s)Monday25/03/202410
Service Inception Meeting(s)Monday01/04/20247
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Challenge Fund 2024 – 2029

Prior Information Notice

On behalf of Discover Work, Dundee’s Local Employability Partnership, Dundee City Council is to launch a Challenge Fund and invite applications for grant funding to deliver support in a New Employability Pathway programme during the period 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2029.

The Challenge Fund is due to launch prior to the festive break subject to receiving key information from external sources. It will be open to eligible organisations who want to:

The estimated value of the Challenge Fund is £2.6m. The Challenge Fund will provide relevant background information and context in which successful applicants will be delivering local employability support.

Applicants should ensure their application aligns with Discover Work Strategy & detailed Action Plan 2022-2027 and adheres to the information provided within the Challenge Fund.

For further information, please complete this Contact Us Form – requesting that you be added to our Stakeholder Distribution List.  Otherwise, please visit the News Section of the Discover Work website on a regular basis.

Celebrating the success of Customer Service Academy with EE

Discover Work are today celebrating the success of 10 aspiring customer service professionals who have completed our 4 week sector-based academy in partnership with telecommunications company EE. Training, hosted at Dundee & Angus College was delivered by teaching staff at the college and Discover Work employability staff with input from EE staff. EE have guaranteed interviews for all of the candidates completing the course which coincides with their latest round of recruitment.

Scott, one of the successful completers had this to say about the Academy:

“This has been a fantastic opportunity for me, the course is perfectly tailored to starting a new job in a contact centre environment.  Not only is the course content relevant it’s all delivered in a really supportive way as well. The support from the employability team is also fantastic the help with cv and cover letters is invaluable.  I’ve also met a whole bunch of brilliant new people who I’m hoping to be working with for years to come.”

Discover Work would like to thank all of the participants for their hard work over the 4 weeks and to EE and BT Group for their continued investment in Dundee and its people.

To find out more about our sector-based training academies please contact us on partnership@discoverworkdundee.co.uk

Celebrating Achievements of Aspiring Parking Attendants

Participants along with staff and Councillor Steven Rome at The Shore to celebrate completion of Discover Work Academy

Discover Work are today celebrating the achievements of participants on our latest sector-based skills academy, this time run in partnership with Dundee City Council’s Parking Attendants.

The group have completed a two week training course at The Shore, delivered by Adult Employability Service and Parking Attendant staff. The Academy has also benefitted from support by All in Dundee and Youth Employability Service.

This unique opportunity has given participants an insight into the skills and attributes needed to gain and sustain employment as a Parking Attendant at Dundee City Council.

Principal Parking Officer at Dundee City Council, Mandy Sivewright thanked the group and reflected on the Academy:

“This is the first time we have approached recruitment in this way and I have to say, it’s been a real eye-opener. […] Normally I would only be able to meet people for 30 minutes in an interview before hiring. Over the past two weeks though, I’ve been able to get to know candidates more and I’m blown away by the time and effort that they’ve all put in. Thank you!”

For some of the Academy participants, the two weeks has been helpful in overcoming potential barriers to employment. Orran, who is 20 years old found the experience to be helpful, saying:

“For the past six months I’ve been unemployed. In that time I’ve gone into massive depressive episodes and haven’t had the support I needed […] It wasn’t until this course that I’ve felt supported in trying to find a job that matches my education level.”

“Natalie & Vicky [Adult Employability Service] have been a massive help with everything, without them I wouldn’t be confident to apply for this kind of job. Big thanks to all the staff involved.”

The Roads & Transportation department at Dundee City Council have guaranteed interviews for all course completers, these will take place over the next 2 weeks. Our partnership wishes all the best for the participants moving forward and thanks Councillor Steven Rome (Deputy Convener, City Development) for his attendance at today’s event and on-going support for employability initiatives in Dundee.

If your business could benefit from a sector-based work academy, please contact us on partnership@discoverworkdundee.co.uk for more information.