Venture Trust wins prize for innovation by removing technology from its employability programme
25 July 2018
Venture Trust is pleased to announce that it won not one but two
awards at Clydesdale Bank's Spirit of the Community Awards 2018 for
its CashBack Change Cycle employability programme.
Venture Trust was one of five organisations to win a prize in
the 'help people into employment' category through its CashBack
Change Cycle programme. It also won the first B Innovation award
for demonstrating innovation in its CashBack Change Cycle
programme. Awards for innovation are usually reserved for the
latest technology or something digital, but Venture Trust won for a
programme where technology is removed, and phones are definitely
not allowed!
CashBack Change Cycle is an employability programme supporting
disadvantaged young people to develop the life skills required to
gain sustainable employment. Along with partners, Bike for Good and
The Bike Station Edinburgh, the programme centres around building
and maintaining a bike, combining one-to-one support and group
mentoring, outdoor activity and classroom work, developing
confidence, responsibility, and job readiness.
The Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank Foundation, the organisation
behind the Spirit of the Community Awards, has a strong tradition
of supporting communities by providing funds to help registered
charities, not-for-profit organisations, community and other
voluntary organisations make life safer, healthier and better for
those around them.
The awards support projects that help people have a healthy
relationship with money, help people into employment and help
people improve their local environment.
CashBack Change Cycle takes disadvantaged young people out of
their normal environment, away from technology, away from peer
pressure, and digital media, and gives them the space and peace to
see themselves differently. Individuals are supported to learn
skills that most people take for granted: working as a team,
following instructions, dealing with confrontation, and building
self-worth. Young people learn practical skills of building a bike,
bike maintenance, and gain certificates in Health & Safety,
First Aid, and Tech City and Guilds. Time is spent in the classroom
developing employability skills such as CV writing, interview
techniques, and setting and achieving goals, and valuable time is
spent in the outdoors developing bike skills and building
confidence. Once completed, the individuals are supported to
achieve their goals and gain sustainable employment, along with
having their own bike to travel economically to their place of
work.
Amelia Morgan, Chief Executive Officer for Venture Trust
comments, "We are delighted to have received both awards at the
Spirit of the Community Awards. The prizes total £10,000 which is
invaluable in ensuring that we continue to run the CashBack Change
Cycle programme, along with our main funder, CashBack for
Communities. This is a fantastic programme that really supports
young people with complex issues who have for some reason found
themselves on the margins of society. Innovation doesn't always
mean high technology - it can also mean seeing things differently
and that is what we have done with our CashBack Change Cycle
programme."
For more information about Venture Trust's CashBack Change Cycle
programme, please visit the website:
http://www.venturetrust.org.uk/programmes/cashback-change-cycle/
For further information about The Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank
Foundation Spirit of the Community Awards, please click here: www.cbonline.co.uk/foundation