Training and New Deal
The Wildife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside

Greater Manchester Office
125 Blackburn Road
Bolton
Greater Manchester
BL1 8HF

Every year the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside provides training for up to 200 people on the Government's New Deal programme with a significant number of these people moving from unemployment into sustainable jobs.

The trainees work on a wide range of practical projects which contribute to the protection of the local environment. Our training teams make a significant contribution to the management of our Nature Reserves as well as delivering environmental improvements on a wide range of conservation and amenity sites.

Some of our trainees are placed with partner organisations, such as Refurb in Fleetwood, where they recycle furniture and domestic items for return to the community and the Upbeat kerbside recycling project in Blackpool.

With the use of additional funding from the European Social Fund, trainees can receive a wage while training in a real work environment. This experience in the workplace, combined with a tailored job-search programme has proved to be a very successful combination for preparing our trainees for sustainable employment. As a result of this funding New Deal trainees can improve their career prospects by acquiring skills in machinery operation and driving.

The Wildlife Trust's New Deal trainees make a significant contribution to the management and improvement of the local environment. The work of the training teams helps the Wildlife Trust in the achievement of its aims and progress towards biodiversity targets. Local communities can benefit greatly from the work of the teams as many of the projects make local greenspace more accessible to communities and enhance the local environment. New Deal teams can provide cost effective delivery of projects and additional value while enjoying personal development and employment benefits. The New Deal teams can also work alongside the Wildlife Trust's Contract Teams to provide a flexible and effective delivery mechanism for practical projects.

The Wildlife Trust's NVQ centre provides National Vocational Qualifications in Landbased Operations (level 1) and Environmental Conservation (levels 2 & 3) for its trainees, staff and others. NVQ candidates are assessed in the workplace by the Trust's skilled assessment staff, to reach the standards required for these qualifications.

Project Officer Apprentices work alongside existing members of staff to develop the full range of skills required to design and manage environmental projects. Our current apprentices, funded by East Bolton Regeneration are gaining the diversity of skills and experience required for the Project Officer role, including ecological survey, practical land management, volunteer supervision, community engagement and managing the project budget. These skills can only be developed in the workplace on live projects, supported by mentoring from staff and vocational training.

For more information on the Wildlife Trust's Training schemes please contact:

Steve Cowell
Training and Contracting Manager
tel: 01204 663754
email: scowell@lancswt.org

In association with:

Job Centre Plus
New Deal

European Social Fund