New Service to Get Long - Term unemployed into work or training

The Lift programme delivers a key part of the Welsh Government's tackling poverty action plan. This is about ensuring there is a real opportunity for people who live in households where nobody works. We know that where no-one works people are much more likely to live in persistent, long-term poverty. So this is about tackling that problem, having a real example of what can be done and we're delighted to work with partners here in the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and with Jobcentre Plus as well. In eight different parts of Wales projects like this will exist to help young people between the age of 18 and 28 to find a new route back into work, training and employment. We've been able to work really well across both Welsh Government and Jobcentre Plus. We've worked with Communities First who've been really important. Talking to the South Wales Fire Service, they were really really positive about the impact Communities First had in trying to help make sure the programme was really successful to get people into a position where they could engage effectively. So we're proud of where we ended up and it's a good model we want to see more of, now and in the future. The youngsters involved in the project, it's given them an opportunity to sort of progress their work ambitions, both in terms of confidence and improving CVs, interview skills et cetera, whilst undertaking training in operational, practical sessions in the drill yard with myself and other instructors. The initial plan, the initial intention, was to give a group of people from Blaenau Gwent a positive experience, something current to tell an employer, based on team work, communication, basically employability skills, transferable skills. What it's grown into is people that've made really positive choices for the future and I think they're far more employable - both in terms of their skills, their knowledge, and their attitude in looking for work. We put them in the gym five times a week, we changed their diet, so their exercising more. That's going to lift you, that's going to make you feel better anyway. But attitudinally, that's been the biggest change, you know they're far more positive. I can't even begin to start describing the positive changes it's done for me - unemployed, didn't think I had a future at all, dropped out of school before I got to do my GCSEs, pretty much I've quit everything I've ever done. This is the first thing I've stuck out till the end. I'm going to do courses, hopefully apply for university and hopefully I'm going to push myself now. If I can do this I can do anything.