European Social Fund in England

Elevate

'Elevate' (or the Women's Management and Leadership Training Project) funded through specification 5.1c of the LSC Pan-London Programme is aimed at supporting women to 'elevate' their confidence in leadership and management roles. The project provides high level business management and leadership training and support to women from micro and small businesses within all 5 London LSC areas, including voluntary sector organisations and social enterprises.

'Elevate' focuses on a number of Framework for Regional Employment and Skills Action (FRESA) priority sectors and aims to pursue the following objectives:

• Improving Women's Leadership and Management Skills and Learning
• Raising Women's Confidence to Enhance Workplace Performance
• Improving Access to Information and Support.

'Elevate' is designed and delivered by organisations with expertise in dealing with women and is the result of extensive consultation efforts. It is being led by the Women's Resource Centre, a membership-based, second tier, voluntary and community organisation. The following partners also contribute to the project: Advice UK, Aspire, Social Enterprise London, The Innovatory and Yvonne Field Associates.

Higher level skills are increasingly important within London's economy as identified by the Regional Development Plan and the FRESA, this is particularly the case for the voluntary and community sector. Furthermore, women are generally underrepresented at higher, managerial levels. They often encounter specific barriers to career development as a result of low levels of confidence and difficulties in accessing information and support to help them progress.

Through the delivery of a range of London-wide high level training and support services, women trained through 'Elevate' enhance their business management and leadership skills, confidence and knowledge and therefore widen their career development options. All training courses are developed by and for women specifically for the purpose of the 'Elevate' project and are delivered on a Pan-London basis.

Women who face barriers in their career progression and in accessing lifelong learning, particularly from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups, are specifically targeted. Thanks to regional level marketing efforts tailored to the specific target group and entailing women-focused networks and events, high interest in 'Elevate' has emerged. Recruitment activities have included collaboration in terms of joint marketing and cross-referral with another women-focused project funded through the LSC Pan-London Programme delivered by the Woman's Sport Foundation.

The Women's Resource Centre is particularly eager that sustainable development is an integral aspect of the project. The organisation has developed a Green Housekeeping Guide as a result of an environmental audit as well as guidelines to organise 'green and accessible' events for 'Elevate'. One of the project's networking events will focus on making beneficiaries aware of sustainable development principles and practice.

Project delivery

The project will be delivered between January 2005 and December 2006 and planned outputs and outcomes include:

• 180 women from micro and small businesses, including the voluntary sector and social enterprises, undergoing management/leadership training.
• At least 40% beneficiaries to come from BME groups.
• 90 beneficiaries to gain at least one unit towards a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at Level 3 or 4.
• At least 4 trainers to undertake NVQ Assessor training.

ESF Matters - Making a difference to people's lives

The project's beneficiaries

Learners are screened prior to starting on the project. Where it is not possible to meet the needs of a potential applicant, women are referred to more suitable training and learning opportunities. Once accepted, beneficiaries develop a tailored made Personal Development Plan with the support of the Elevate Advisor. While the latter will remain a constant presence throughout the delivery of training, coaching is available for women with more extensive needs. Networking is also a crucial element of delivery as beneficiaries will benefit from a range of thematic networking events which will serve as forum to discuss relevant issues and exchange views. An Access Fund makes additional support available ranging from childcare expenses to support for beneficiaries with disabilities (e.g. hearing induction loop, BSL interpretation) in line with the Equal Opportunity policy designed specifically for 'Elevate'.

Beneficiaries' stories

Pat Joseph is the director of a small company, ARISE Development Limited. She finds the Elevate training very interesting and well-managed. "It is an inspiring, flexible and inclusive course with brilliant hand-outs. The group of women attending is very upbeat and there is a good balance between learning from the trainers and learning from each other. This is a safe environment to learn from each other and build our confidence".

As the director of a small business, Pat wanted to find out more about management skills as well as learn more about problem solving. As she is self-employed, attending the training means potential loss of business but this constitutes a "long-term investment for her". She finds it a challenge to find the time to fit in the training, however, as she works and has children. Another issue is that as the training takes place twice a month, it is difficult to arrange registered childcare for such a limited time: "It would be great if I could claim for informal childcare and then I could get a friend or family member to help."

Servane works part-time for a charity and runs its coaching programme, which includes managing its pool of coaches. She also works as a self-employed in events management. She finds it is very useful to attend a structured course with a regular schedule like Elevate and particularly enjoys meeting and training with other women: "The peer support is an important element of the training, it is very motivating and our group is very buzzing and has a lot of potential. It is also a very good networking opportunity for me". Servane also attends one-to-one coaching sessions as part of her participation on the project.

Funding

The Elevate project led by the Women's Resource Centre has been granted £700,000 of European Social Funding under Objective Three (Specification 5.1c). The funding has come through the Pan-London co-financing round which is managed by ECOTEC Research & Consulting (www.ecotec.com) on behalf of the 5 Learning & Skills Councils in London (London North, East, South, West and Central).

For further information

For further information about European Social Funding and the LSC Pan-London ESF Objective 3 Programme, please visit:

• www.esf.gov.uk
• www.lsc.gov.uk
• www.LondonO3.ecotec.co.uk

To find out more about the LSC Pan-London ESF O3 Programme, please contact the Pan-London O3 Team within ECOTEC (020 7089 1976; LondonO3@ecotec.co.uk). To contact Gloria Miqueles at the Women's Resource Centre about 'Elevate' please phone 020 7324 3044 or email Gloria@wrc.org.uk. Further information about the project is available at: www.wrc.org.uk.