Equal Access to Employment in Glasgow  RE:Focus

RE:Focus
Funded by the European EQUAL Programme under Theme A, RE:FOCUS sits beneath Glasgow’s EQUAL Access to Employment Strategy.

The aim of RE:FOCUS is to help people with health or social care needs integrate or reintegrate back into the labour market. Target groups include:

• People with learning disabilities
• People with physical disabilities
• People with addiction problems
• People with mental health problems
• Homeless people
• Care leavers
• Ex-offenders
• Carers
• People on incapacity benefits who have health and social care need

In general, these groups are often a distance from the labour market and need a range of tailored support to move into work.

More Information

• RE:Focus Background Document >>
• RE:Focus Application Form Guidance Notes >>
• RE:Focus Evidence base - January 2005 >>

Project information

The RE:Focus Development Partnership is one of the largest in the UK with 22 projects and 96 partner organisations supported to try out new ways of working with clients, staff and employers. 

• Project Information summary

Research

The following research projects have been commissioned by projects funded through the EQUAL RE:Focus Development Partnerhsip:

• Staff Attitudinal Survey
• Employer Attitude Literature Review
• Options for Change
• Glasgow Homeless: Employablity & Homelessnessin Glasgow: Evidence & Aspirations full report
• Glasgow Homeless: Employability & Homelessness in Glasgow: Evidence & Aspirations summary

MAISHA Transnational Partnership

The RE:Focus Development Partnership has been involved in a transnational cooperation  with partners from Pesaro (Italy) and Hamburg (Germany).  The MAISHA (More Abilities Integration Skills and Higher Ambitions) partnership had the common aim of working together to develop EU approaches to combat discrimination in relation to the labour market by developing products that can be transferred into practice and policy.

The projects involved in the partnership have worked together innovately to try and test new products in 3 working groups: Skills Passport (looking at early intervention),  Modularisation (looking at skills development) and Diversity Management (looking at ways of encouraging diversity within the worplace)

Skills Passport: the aim of this working group was to look at new methods of supporting those disadvantaged in the labour market to record skills and attributes that would be attractive to employers.  It was evident in each country a key issue was the inability  of clients to recognise or evidence skills and competences that are not certificated such as 'life experience' and the softer skills employers need and want.

To read more download the full brochure: S.K.I.L.L: Skills, Knowledge, Integration and Lifelong Learning - A Toolkit

Modularisation: the aim of this working group was to develop a training module compatible over three member states and the assessment of three National Qualification Frameworks in Scotland, Germany and Italy.

To read more download the full brochure: MODULARISATION: Building Skills for the Future

Diversity Management: the focus of this group was to develop a brocuchue aimed at employers to provide a short informative overview of diversity management.  With changing demographics and the flow  of migration organisations will be exposed to a greater cultural mix than ever before, by embracing diversity employers can harness a  potential workforce available to help them maximise  new business opportunties.  To read more about diversity management download the full brochure: DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT: Developing Potential