ELCAP to give young job seekers a kick start

ELCAP to give young job seekers a kick start

ELCAP is to support six young job seekers to get a foot on the employment ladder through the UK government’s Kickstart Scheme.  The charity’s involvement resulted from its partnership with Midlothian and East Lothian Chamber of Commerce.

Welcoming the development, Chamber Chief Executive, Keith Barbour said:

“Last year the government launched the Kickstart Scheme to fund six-month work placements for young people aged 16 to 24 years who are currently on Universal Credit

The Midlothian & East Lothian Chamber of Commerce were pleased to become an approved  Gateway Intermediary for the Kickstart Scheme , and be able to offer the opportunity of applying for these funded placements to businesses across the Lothians.   To date, businesses of all sizes and sectors have applied, and the scheme will run until December 2021.

The Chamber has been particularly happy to receive an application from the care sector from local charity ELCAP.    Funding has been granted to ELCAP for six placements for young people and successful candidates will get induction and in-house training from ELCAP, along with other training opportunities sourced through the Wraparound Training Toolkit available from the Chamber.  The Kickstart Scheme funding will enable ELCAP to recruit ‘trainee’ Support Practitioners within a time span that would have been otherwise difficult for the charity in these pandemic times.

Although the Kickstart funding for placements lasts only six months, it is hoped that some of the young people placed with all the applicant employers will be kept on permanently with their host employer.  And if not, during the six months, they will have received a level of training and experience that will stand them in good stead for potential future employment”

ELCAP Chief Executive, Paul White, said:

“As part of our sustainable development plan, we want to reduce inequalities.  And as part of that commitment, we will work with communities and groups which experience barriers to employment and encourage individuals within them to consider a career with ELCAP.

Young people have been particularly affected by the job losses which have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.  We want to support some of them by offering them a career as a Support Practitioner with our charity.”

ELCAP currently employs 300 Support Practitioners.  The purpose of the job is to assist the individuals ELCAP supports with all aspects of daily living, enabling them to do the things that matter to them and achieve their full potential.