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2008
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July 2008
> Housing Association Lead the Way in Tackling Unemployment
The government have this week unveiled plans that are set to radically shake up the Benefits System and much debate surrounds the most effective approaches to tackling worklessness and assisting individuals who have become detached from the labour market back into work.
As the debate persists, Derwent & Solway Housing Association, a member of Harvest Housing Group, continues to deliver a ground breaking people based regeneration initiative throughout one of the most deprived areas in the UK, aimed at reducing unemployment by engaging residents in learning and training.
The ‘Routes 2 Work’ initiative was established in 2005 and has since worked across West Cumbria, an area which has been in economic decline for more than 30 years, with many households experiencing second and third generation unemployment.
D&S, together with the support of Harvest, delivers the successful initiative, which earlier this year was recognised with a Housing Corporation Gold Award in the Tackling Worklessness category. It acts to tackle unemployment within local communities by offering bespoke training packages for individuals as well as helping with the hidden costs of returning to work such as travel costs.
Since Routes 2 Work opened its doors, it has helped over 2,000 people back into employment, 270 people into learning support programmes and successfully trained 24 classroom assistants. Unlike many mainstream programmes, Routes 2 Work works with the individual to ensure that the funding they receive meets their specific requirements and assists them to overcome their barriers, which can include mental health problems, drug and alcohol addiction and homelessness.
Housing Corporation Gold Award judges commended Derwent & Solway’s proactive and innovative approach, saying:
“This is a unique approach in an area which is geographically isolated and has high levels of deprivation; it is one project that can be replicated in other areas”.
Another commented on Routes 2 Work ability to work in partnership with external agencies, ensuring all targets are met, saying:
“D&S and Routes 2 Work were plugged in at every level of the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), using their partnerships to ensure their programmes did not duplicate other provision. An excellent example of how LSP and Local Area Agreement targets are translated into local delivery and real outcomes through partnership working”.
Robert Porter, Director of Derwent & Solway commented:
“Since 2005 we and our partners including Allerdale Borough Council and Job Centre Plus have been committed to developing and delivering regeneration activities focused on maximising opportunities that enable greater social inclusion and provide individuals disadvantaged by unemployment with the support and training they require to gain employment”.