Heywood skills office given official opening

The Skills 4 U office in Heywood.

The new Skills 4 U office in Heywood will be officially opened on Thursday (13 November).

The official opening at the office on Market Street will be attended will be the Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Robin Parker, as well as key partners from the Skills 4 U project.

Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale has been working in partnership with New Heart For Heywood, Rochdale Council and Hopwood Hall College since June this year to create the new Skills 4 U project.

Skills 4 U offers a range of tailored support to Heywood NDC residents wishing to improve their skills.

Since opening it doors in mid September the dedicated team at Skills 4 U has helped and supported more than one hundred people onto free training courses to help them back into employment or to change their career.

Ian Smith, Skills 4 U Project Coordinator, said: “We are extremely happy to have set up a town centre office base which is highly accessible for all people.

"The informal yet professional nature of the office means that people can come in and browse information or have a chat with one of our members of staff.

“Our Skills Brokers will be on hand to provide the latest information on transport, directions, new courses, specialist support and almost anything else that may be on people’s minds. Support can be provided at the Skills 4 U office or in local community centres. We are here for anybody who wants to improve his or her skills. We can help with confidence, motivation, personal problems, advice on succeeding in training and keeping going when things don’t quite work the way we expected.”

Chairman of the New Deal Partnership, Susan Coates, said: “This is a great opportunity for residents to get the training they always wanted and to learn a new skill and meet new people – all for free. Skills 4 U is an important part of the NDC’s focus on jobs, training and learning.”

Skills 4 U has already had a number of success stories about people moving forward into further education, employment and people who have been successfully mentored to gain confidence and a vision for their future.

One client completed taster sessions in ‘Intro to Retail Merchandising and Display’ and ‘Media Flash 9’ over the summer and has now started a Level 1 course in Media at Hopwood Hall College. He added he 'loved' the tasters and is ‘glad to be learning something he enjoys’.

Another client wasn’t sure about what sort of job she wanted and attended an Information, Advice and Guidance Session (delivered by Work Based Community Learning Service and coordinated by Skills 4 U) to give her a better idea about what she wanted to do. She is now working part time on a permanent contract as an administrator for Xchange Homes in Hopwood.

Skills 4 U is open Monday to Friday from 10am – 4pm. For more information, advice or a list of free upcoming courses please call into the Skills 4 U office or call Mhorag Gardiner on 01706 367 804.