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Bridging to the future has just returned from the fourth transnational meeting of the ETOS project which was hosted in Lithuania. The partnership, consisting of 7 different EU nations, has been working for over a year to develop a pan-European methodology and solution to engaging and training disadvantaged individuals in necessary enterprise skills. The ultimate result being increased employability and employment in the host countries.

 One of the key objectives of the fourth meeting was to evaluate how the ‘training the trainers’ section of the project had progressed in the individual partner countries. ‘Training the Trainers’ is the ETOS methodology for preparing the staff of the enterprises to train the disadvantaged individuals within their companies. Here BTF has taken the innovative approach of engaging with South and City College Birmingham to combine the enterprise skills support offered by the ETOS project with the launch of ‘The Women’s Enterprise Hub’ in the city. A partnership Bridging to the Future are enthused about developing further.

 The second key objective of the meeting was to ensure all partners are on track to deliver the upcoming ‘pilot phase’. This will see the trainers we have previously trained engage and develop the disadvantaged individuals within the companies. For Bridging to the Future this will see us working closely with a diverse range of Bangladeshi and Pakastani women at the college, local young people across South West Birmingham and unemployed individuals. The goal here is to leave these individuals better able to find or create jobs and increase the employability of Birmingham’s citizens.

ETOS has proven to be a very interesting, dynamic and stimulating project thus far for Bridging to the Future and we welcome the chance to discuss it with other interested parties. We encourage you to investigate the project further at www.etosproject.eu or contact us directly using the details on the website.

http://www.etosproject.eu/

UK employment hit the highest level in more than four years in August and jobless claims fell by the largest amount in over two years, suggesting an Olympic boost and raising hopes that the job market is improving. The office for National Statistics has stated that in the quarter to July the number of jobless people fell by 7,000 while the number of people claiming jobless benefit fell by 15,000 last month to 1.5m.

Recent surveys have indicated that firms are planning to step up hiring in the months to come despite an uncertain economic outlook. The government is hoping that private companies create enough new jobs to balance the job cuts in the public sector, which are part of the tough austerity programme.

But the so-called "Olympics effect" masked a less rosy picture outside London, with some regions suffering hefty rises in unemployment.

The figures show that outside London, unemployment rose by 23,000 in Yorkshire and Humber in the three months to July and by 16,000 in the West Midlands. Northern Ireland was also badly affected, with 10,000 more jobless in the quarter.

There are also fears that there could be an Olympics hangover now that the temporary boost from London 2012 is over.

Samuel Tombs at Capital Economics said while the headline drop in unemployment was encouraging, the detail of the ONS report showed a "less impressive picture".

He said that other recent employment surveys suggested many of those taken on for the Olympics "will struggle to find work now that the Games have finished".

John Walker, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said that ‘policies targeted at stimulating job creation, such as extending the National Insurance contributions holiday, are needed to give small firms the confidence to create full-time positions and take on staff," he said.

In addition youth unemployment rose by 7,000 to 1.02 million in the three months to July - an "uncomfortable" figure, according to Philip Shaw.

One solution to the unemployment crisis is through the help of micro and small business, charities and the Third Sector. Many small businesses need to look at the field of youth as a resource to utilise and engage with.  However this is proving particularly difficult when small businesses and the Third Sector are not fully supported by the government.

News Source- The Telegraph Finance News

Big Society Capital has recently  published a governance document outlining the social criteria a company will need to fulfil before it can receive investment. According to a blog written by Nick O’Donohoe, Chief Executive of BSC, the "vast majority" of Big Society Capital investments will be in regulated social sector organisations. However in his blog, he  also state that it "would be wrong to completely exclude companies that seek to create significant social value but have organised themselves as for-profit companies. He said that BSC would permit some of the intermediaries it invested in to provide funding for for-profit companies so long as those investees met several criteria, including: having an asset lock; objects that made it clear it was "primarily concerned with providing benefit to society"; a constitutional requirement to exist for social benefit; safeguards to ensure its social mission continued in the case of an ownership change; and remuneration levels that "reflect social sector norms".

Several commentators have speculated previously about whether BSC would apply a more liberal definition to the kind of organisations it could invest in, including companies that do not have any protection of either assets or social purpose written into their constitution.

Jane Tully, head of policy at the Charity Finance Group, said that O’Donohoe’s comments would reassure many within the sector.

"Broadly we welcome the clarity provided by BSC’s definition of a social sector organisation," she said. "This gives some reassurance that the majority of investments will go to regulated social organisations. 

"The criteria for for-profit organisations, and BSC’s clarity about its purposes, makes it clear that charities are being placed at the heart of this market." 

News Source: Third Sector News

The third meeting of the ETOS project, which will be piloted in 90 different organisations across Europe, recently took place in Athens. BtF’s Duncan Chamberlain and Dan Zastawny both attended the meeting which focused largely on the training methodology created by BtF.

The methodology designed by BtF focuses on collaborative and innovative ways of uniting unemployed individuals with local entrepreneurs so there is practical, accredited workplace training,  ultimately leading to the unemployed individual gaining certified skills and greater opportunity and ability to gain employment.

This methodology will be utilised by all project participants in 6 different EU member states and following on from these pilots, will be developed into a EU endorsed training approach and methodology.

http://www.etosproject.eu/

Our Director Duncan Chamberlain recently visited London and meet with 2020 Public Services Hub to discuss the delivery of public services in times of austerity and cuts to every public services.

The 2020 Public Services Hub  is a new independent think tank and registered charity based at the RSA. The 2020 Trust aims to research a deeper understanding of the challenges facing public services in the medium terms in times of economic recession.  It aims to develop rigorous and practical solutions capable of sustaining support across all political parties.

2020 PST brings together policy makers, politicians, public service managers, civil servants, business and third sector leaders, and consumer voices, to debate and research how to improve public outcomes.  It occupies a unique role as no other organisation focuses on the role and transformation of public services in Britain.

The 2020 PST is not aligned with any political party and operates with independence and impartiality.

BTF looks forward to developing a stronger relationship with 2020 PST and offer advice and support in order to develop some more ground-breaking research.

For more information about 2020 PST, please visit http://www.2020publicservicestrust.org/

BTF continues to work on the ETOS project, to develop sustainable solutions to long term unemployment.

The aim of the ETOS project is to create an innovative practical training model, which will allow on the job learning and skill those that have been on long term unemployed.

ETOS project understands the difficulties that people with learning disabilities, former drop-outs, and migrants might find themselves missing recognized skills, as they have not able to gain standard certified skills. Therefore the ETOS project aims to create a practical training model which will not require classroom attendance, but will allow on the job learning through practical.

As a result the ETOS project will develop a new EU skills certification based on an innovative evaluation model in line with ECVET system requirements, awarded at the end of the training.

BTF looks forward to working on the ETOS project and will be flying out to Greece in September to continue developing an even stronger partnership. 

Unemployment has increased by 155% since 2008. Consequently 20% of today’s youth are out of work, a figure which is estimated to rise. The graph below clearly shows after a steady decline through the 1990’s and a plateau in the first half of this century, there has been sharp, dramatic rise in unemployment since 2007. This rise has coincided with the global recession and its aftermath. There is great concern for areas like Ladywood in Birmingham, which is recorded to have the highest level of youth unemployment in the UK. Also Rugby in the West Midlands was seen to have the largest rise in youth unemployment within one month, a 12% rise. Graduates similarly are struggling in finding employment, particularly employment opportunities that meet their skills base, 21% of graduates are working in part-time work or going on into further study and about 3.5% of graduates are currently unemployed.

(Guardian, 2011)

One solution to this crisis is through the help of micro and small business, charities and the Third Sector. Many small business need to look at the field of youth as a resource to utilise and engage with it. Young people’s lack of experience is often seen as a barrier for them to enter into the workforce and as a result other skills young people may have that could benefit a business may not be considered. Companies that actively seek to employ students and graduates under the age of 25 in order to produce a youthful and innovative workforce benefit from having fresh skills that have developed and adapted new and effective ways of working. This has brought about a new host of innovation and entrepreneurial vibrancy, which consequently boosts productivity and helps establish new businesses. Small business, charities and third sector groups should seek to employ young people and adopt new government schemes, like Nick Clegg’s £1 billion investment scheme that provides subsidies for hiring young people, so that they too can benefit from the great resources young people have to offer. Tackling this issue is important for making our next generation successful.

(Sources: BBC, Guardian, Redbrick)

In these times of economic austerity for schools and The Third Sector, it is maybe time to think positive and adopt the mindset that you will not let the budget cuts affect what you do. Income can be generated through ethical business practices and concentrated effort. Here are some examples:

• grant research: there are 100,000s of potential sources of income for voluntary groups, community groups, schools and charities.
• grant writing: convert the research into applications
• resource optimisation: how can your organisation develop income from the facilities, people and resources that it already owns or controls? Innovative thinking can lead to new ways of bringing money into oranisations
• volunteering: there are three significant untapped resources of volunteers-the retired, the unemployed and students. With training, they can be invaluable and inspired additions to an organisation.
• building capacity: making use of social enterprises and charities who can offer high quality support and direct services at highly reasonable prices.
• Schools, the Third Sector and voluntary groups take note – Fight Back! Don’t let the cuts stop the great work you are doing.

HMRC, are increasing the scrutiny and investigation frequency on the SME and micro business sectors. There is a concern, from HMRC, that small businesses are paying to little tax.. There is evidence that HMRC are homing in on checking newly established businesses, part of a strategy to more strictly enforce their requirements of all businesses maintaining accurate and adequate accounts.. New businesses should be aware of the potential consequences of not having tax accounts in order, with considerable potential disruption, time and, stress impacts as well as fines of up to £3000. Needless to say, fines of this magnitude can be a significant loss for SMEs and micro businesses.

However there is growing political and business pressure on HMRC to treat small businesses fairly and as a result the HMRC is trailing a mediator scheme in the North West of England and North Wales. The Scheme is called ‘Alternative Disputes Resolution’ (ADR) and will help to resolve tax disputes for small business without having to go through a tribunal. The aim is to help tax problems to be resolved and to do it in a time and cost effective way. Earlier pilots have concluded that it allows both bodies to understand what the HMRC positions are and how to meet the requirements, therefore benefiting in the long-term. Also HMRC are using this scheme to learn how to work better in understanding the tax needs of SMEs. Hopefully this pilot will be successful and be implemented nationwide and will help new small business have one less challenge to tackle.

This is a most welcome development by HMRC and illustrates their growing willingness to work with new businesses and offer advice before sanction.

(source: Telegraph)

The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has put forward a similar initiative to what Labour have proposed, this call for more responsible capitalism. Clegg’s focus has been to promote greater employee shareholder ownership, following a similar co-operative led business style. His aims and objectives behind this is to “unlock growth” and use this as another method to get the economy engine starting again. The process of employees being involved in the ownership of the business that they work for, creates for them greater incentive to put a bigger input into the business. The consequence of this is seen to create a more productive business where there are lower numbers of staff turnover, low absenteeism and lower production costs. Also employees are seen to gain from greater employee benefits and higher wages. Nick Clegg s said "Employee ownership can also help fulfil the increasing desire we have for more influence in our work so as to unleash our potential and productivity". The subsequent benefits for businesses are that they are more effective in becoming successful and established such as ‘John Lewis’ and there is greater benefit for the workforce at the same time.

The Government’s objective for greater employee ownership is impart part of their crack down on ‘crony capitalism’. Part of this could be seen to be a response to the continuing occupy protest and as a result the government having to look at giving shareholders more power over executive pay. This employee ownership is also part of a similar strategy which Lib Dem Business Minister Ed Davey is currently layingout. His aim is to help remove the barriers that prevent employee ownership. This new drive for great employee participation in business is a positive one as it helps to develop better business for the future.

 ...

(Information from - BBC NEWS)

Dan Zastawny of BtF has just returned from Lodz Poland where he has been discussing with our ETOS Project partners the development steps that are going to be taken for the project to get underway. ETOS stands for “Effective Training for Outsiders of Society”. The strategy the team have undertaken is to help marginalised minority groups who are made up of people that are unskilled and consequently workless. These minority groups are extremely diverse; ranging from school drop outs, immigrant groups and those without any formal qualifications. The ETOS team are outlining creative and effective ways to develop stable jobs and employability skills for a lifetime.

The strategies that the team are formalising will help minorities engage with employment by focusing on building skills through on the job training. Skills for these individuals will be gained by practical work and further developed by a mentoring scheme. The mentoring scheme is a setup of mentors who will train entrepreneurs and support them when they take on minority individuals. The entrepreneurs will pass on their skills and experiences to the unemployed so that these individuals learn in a way that will benefit their employment for the long term and not the short term.

The meeting established that the official strategy for the ETOS plan and decided that the Pilot will start in 2012. The project looks to involve 90 stakeholders in 6 EU countries, with 144 beneficiaries.

The business community is often seen to have certain sectors of society over populating the business landscape and entrepreneurial leadership. This has created a stereotypical idea of what a business person should look like and what they shouldn’t look like, which is shaping the orientation of the business environment. These perceptions have created a void and formed social barriers and levels of exclusion for minority groups. Society today has progressed in reducing negative perceptions and stopping discrimination particularly through the work of policy makers and business leaders. However misrepresented perceptions of minority groups do remain.

It’s our ambition to further help reduce the stereotypes that are given to minority groups and to break down the specific barriers that prevent them from participating fully in business. We are looking to build relationships and networks with ethnic minority groups, LGBT groups and disability groups. What we aim to do is help create opportunities for people in these groups to be able to exert their entrepreneurial skills and establish businesses. Furthermore we want to support them as their business grows and through their involvement in business encourage an anti-discrimination attitude within the business landscape.

At BtF we believe that we have the right services that would benefit these members of minority groups who are seeking to establish a business. It’s our aim to use our business incubation support to guild minority entrepreneurs in there running of their businesses as well as linking them up with the relevant people that would push their business forward. Also we hope to use our grant services to apply for funding that we could use to help and encourage minority groups to become involved in business. Not only are we looking for new minority entrepreneurs but also existing minority entrepreneurs who may need business support or who are willing to network with us and become part of our mission. For us at BtF we believe that it is important to have a diverse and expanding business environment where diversity and equality can be seen at the very top of the business ladder.

Edge Partnership and SSAT have been working with BtF’s project management and support team in running the EDGE & SSAT innovation and leadership hub. This hub has been developed for the West Midlands region to provide a social enterprise solution where by schools are working together to meet a local need. The hub does this through providing high quality CPD training which mainly has a focus on building up middle leadership. The hub takes a strong approach on ‘teachers teaching teachers’ this provides effective training and allows for the best and most vital experience to be applied to the training programme.

The Training Programme itself tackles four key areas for teaches, whose roles are involved in middle leadership:

• middle leadership development
• multiagency working in schools
• success in challenging circumstances
• a new approach to engaging students

These CPD course work in both twilight and school visit sessions and are taught by head teaches from some of Birmingham’s most achieving and transformative schools. We at BtF are proud of the developing achievements this SSAT hub has and is provided in our region of the country.

Bridging to the Future’s expansion of its income generation and fund raising services will offer a greater ability for social enterprises, schools and charities to create the income streams to enable them to deliver programmes and projects that will benefit communities and individuals. Bridging to the Future delivers coaching, guidance and support across the complete process of income generation from identification of needs through to delivery. Their services include concise auditing of needs, specialist fund locating, grant writing and expert coaching in grant writing. BtF has already built successful relationships with a range of charities and schools, including the Edge Partnership of Schools and King Edward VI Five Ways to generate significant income to enable often ground breaking work in some of our most disadvantaged communities. With a particular focus on coaching other organisations in their successful grant writing methodology and fund raising approach, BtF continues to help local social enterprise expand through credible, trusted and practical services.

Expansion of fund raising and income generation services: Charities, schools and social enterprises offered bespoke coaching and services in income generation and grant writing technique

We are delighted to continue our development of services to clients and are now able to add:

• Filmmaking/corporate video design and filming
• Website design and construction

to our portfolio of services which we hope will add and complement our existing services which includes:

• Company secretary duties
• Business coaching
• Small scale investment
• Company formation
• Grant writing and applications
• Income stream generation through the market and through grant applications

Please see our main website for our Bridge Model

BtF is delighted to have won a European Union contract which will commence delivery this November. The contract, which will see BtF design a innovative solution to long term unemployment, and will involve working with 5 other EU countries. BtF is delighted to be part of this consortium.

Duncan Chamberlain, Bridging to the Futures Managing Director met with the minister for Civil Society (Nick Hurd MP) in May to discuss the development of business hubs and incubators as a means of offering sustainable and credible support for new entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs. The meeting – which was without officials and a face to face meeting including Cannock MP, Aidan Burley – discussed how to engage with social enterprises and new enterprises.