LAL raises the aspirations of Pendle and Burnley residents

Around 200 people from Burnley and Pendle took advantage of Lancashire Adult Learning’s Raising Aspirations careers event held at Northlight in Brierfield.

The free event was held to highlight the employment and educational opportunities available in Brierfield and the surrounding area for those seeking employment or a change of career.

On the day, visitors had the chance to find out more about LAL’s free Work Clubs, Functional Skills courses and its range of short courses aimed at helping job seekers gain employment.

There was also the opportunity to meet local employers and apply for live vacancies, gain expert careers advice from LAL’s Information, Advice and Guidance Team and take part in employability workshops to improve CV writing and job application skills.

A free shuttlebus system was also operating for the duration of the event, taking people to and from the Jobcentre Plus in Nelson and Burnley to Northlight.

Anita Houghton, curriculum leader for Employability at Lancashire Adult Learning said: “I’m really pleased that our Raising Aspirations event has been a huge success. It has lived up to its name by opening the eyes of local people in Brierfield and the surrounding area to the wide range of employment opportunities that exist on the doorstep.

“The event has enabled LAL to grow and develop its relationships with organisations across the region, and it has been extremely well received by employers who attended on the day. I’m delighted that the feedback we have had from visitors seeking work on the day has been equally positive too.”

Tracey Eades, partnership adviser at Burnley’s Jobcentre Plus, said: “To see so many people from local communities attending the Raising Aspirations event, taking part in activities and talking to employers was really positive to see.

“The help Jobcentre Plus received from Lancashire Adult Learning with providing a minibus to get jobseekers to and from the event showed the great partnership we have together. It meant the event was able to be accessed by people with no transport. I cannot wait to hear about the job starts that I am sure will follow.”

During the 2017-18 academic year, almost 2,500 adults across the county enrolled on to basic skills courses including English, Maths and ESOL with Lancashire Adult Learning. LAL also helped two thirds of adult learners on its employability and skills based courses progress into employment or further learning.

William Jenson, 19, from Padiham, was one of the many visitors at the Raising Aspirations event looking for employment. He said: “The event has been really useful for me and I’ve found out about a few different opportunities that I think I can do including customer service roles and caring for young people.”

Diane Cockshott, regulated care programme administrator for the East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We do a lot of work supporting care homes, nursing homes and care providers to promote the sector and the great work it does, and understand its employment requirements.

“The Raising Aspirations event has been fantastic as it has provided our organisation with an opportunity to network with Lancashire Adult Learning, and engage with people interested in working in the care sector. We are looking forward to working together with LAL in the future.”

As well as its targeted delivery and partnership work, Lancashire Adult Learning offers a huge range of planned provision across the Red Rose County, from Arts and Crafts to Humanities classes, Languages to Health and Wellbeing sessions and Functional Skills English and Maths and Employability courses.

In February 2018, Lancashire Adult Learning was named as the inaugural winner of the national Adult and Community Learning Provider of the Year at the TES FE Awards.

Further information about Lancashire Adult Learning can be found at www.lal.ac.uk or by calling 0333 003 1717.