European Social Fund in England

Women building links into employment

Women Building Links Into Employment (WBLIE) is a project set up to assist trainee tradeswomen and unemployed tradeswomen into work. The project is funded by the ALG / ESF as part of the National organisation for Tradeswomen, 'Women and Manual Trades' (WAMT).

The WBLIE project:

• Designs and delivers courses to compliment traditional craft-based training for women.
• Advises and supports tradeswomen in finding employment, or opportunities for further training in the trades.
• Links project members to WAMT's national networking support of tradeswomen.
• Facilitates talks and network opportunities led by WBLIE and WAMT members.

Delegates at the Building Links Tradeswom March 2004

Facts and Figures:

Roughly speaking, out of 100 people working in the construction industry, 1 will be a woman and 99 will be men. Women and Manual Trades is working to improve this.

Some facts:

• Women have been working in the trades since before the 1st World War.
• In India women make up over 30% of unskilled labour in the construction industry.
• In Denmark 15% of Painters and Decorators are women.
• In many African and Latin American countries women build out of necessity.

Case study:

Sue Leong is studying an NVQ level II in plumbing at the Women's Education in Building centre in Ladbroke Grove. Having attended an introductory talk by our outreach worker at the college last December, Sue set up an appointment to come into our offices and develop a long-term training and education plan.

We were able to support Sue by enrolling her on our Emergency Health and Safety course where she met 9 other women training in the trades. Now in regular contact with the project and other tradeswomen in London, Sue has completed and is enrolled on a number of other training courses. As well as attending evening network talks and our recent Trade Fair, she is a regular user of our Tradeswomen's resource centre.

'I feel very supported and really pleased, especially with the network centre... [WAMT staff] are lovely people, efficient, pleasant, really excellent. '- Sue Leong.

Successes and Achievements:

So far, our project has:

• Enrolled 147 members who are either unemployed tradeswomen or women undergoing training in the trades.
• Welcomed over 300 women at three of our enormously successful Trades Fairs.
• Delivered 225 training sessions to project members in topics such as health and safety, spreadsheet and web design, Confidence and Assertiveness, and first aid.
• Carried out 172 individual training and advice sessions with project members.

In addition, our outreach worker has carried out 37 visits to trainees at colleges and learning centres throughout London including attending college open days, networking events and trade training centres.

Lessons Learnt:

• Our project members value our support and the opportunity to maintain their membership of the 'Women In Manual Trades' network.
• We recognise the value of designing specific training that 'fills the gaps' in traditional craft-based training.
• Having tradeswomen as role models who are able to give advice and support from a 'hands on' perspective is invaluable to trainees.

Experiences on Cross Cutting Themes

Sustainable Development:

The project strengthens opportunities for unemployed tradeswomen and women training in the trades, supporting them through the transition from further education to training opportunities and employment. The project is in the unique position to offer long-term support to women on the project into the wider Women and Manual Trades membership. This provides members with ongoing support and information on developments within the industry, employment and training opportunities, and networking events within the trade ; ands sectors.

Equal Opportunities:

The project aims to facilitate positive action to improve opportunities for women working and training in the construction industry. The Building Links project is committed to equality of opportunity for all our members and works within WAMT's wider equal opportunity policy. The project has a wide and diverse membership of women throughout the London boroughs.

Use of ICT:

The project provides a wide range of support and access opportunities for members in the use of ICT. Computer course options include: 1 day introductory and taster sessions in Excel and word processing; web design using FrontPage; a 2day CSCS card accreditation course, and a 3 day LOCN accredited Excel course. This range of support enables the project to develop and upskill members throughout their trade training. We also offer a network resource room with an online PC where members can come into the project to do web-based research and access 1:1 support and information on anything from developing a CV to deness cards.

Further Information

For further information on the above project contact:

Jane Yeomans,

Project Manager

Tel: 020 7251 9192

E-mail: martina.porter@cccmedia.co.uk

If you are interested in European Structural Funds and would like to find out more on ESF or ERDF and the other European Funds visit www.gos.gov.uk/gol/European_funding/ or call 020 7217 3350