PCDT Latest News

PRESS RELEASE
28 July 2010
 

AWARD FOR SKILLS CENTRE

Staff at the Skills Centre in Penzance are celebrating after winning an award for their success in helping more than 270 people get back to work, and over 500 to gain new skills through training in the last two years.  

The centre, which is part of Penwith Community Development Trust (PCDT) received the accolade at the annual Cornwall Works Welfare to Work, Innovation, Skills and Employment (WISE) awards ceremony at the Headland Hotel, Newquay.

PCDT’s Sue Guard (centre) and Tracy Waters (right) receive the WISE award from Carolyn Webster, European Social Fund programme manager at Jobcentre Plus

The Welfare to Work (Organisation) award was presented to PCDT’s chief executive Sue Guard and head of employment, training and development Tracy Waters.

Tracy said: “It’s fantastic to be recognised for the work we do as an organisation. We are incredibly fortunate to have a team of staff who are supportive, knowledgeable and committed to making a difference for their clients.”

The WISE awards are organised by the Convergence Partnership Office, Jobcentre Plus and the Skills Funding Agency to recognise and celebrate excellence in employment and skills activity across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Through its European Social Fund Convergence-funded programmes, the Skills Centre offers people in West Cornwall a range of support, including one-to-one employment advice, personal and career development, and training packages to gain qualifications for work.    

“We have been lucky to obtain contracts through Convergence that have allowed us to support our client in a way that meets their needs and supports them back to work – and we still have capacity to help other people in our local area,” said Tracy.

PCDT has been helping the local community for more than 10 years, and the range of service it can now offer includes volunteering and counselling, as well as employment and training. Sue Guard believes that this diversity of provision is central to the success of the organisation.

“When we help individuals, we look much wider than their employment and training needs, so through other initiatives within the organisation we can offer them access to services all under one roof,” she said.

“This holistic approach ensures that even clients with multiple and complex barriers to work are helped, and is central to our clients not only gaining employment, but sustaining it.”

To find out more about the Skills Centre and PCDT, visit www.pcdt.org.uk

For further information, contact Tracy Waters on 01736 334663 or email tracy@pcdt.org.uk

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