Cycling Projects are seeking referrals for their new programme, Wheels into Employment, offering unemployed people the chance to volunteer and gain experience and new skills in helping on their cycling activities.
Cycling Projects is a very well-established charity with a remit to engage all members of the community through cycling. They have been in existence for over 25 years developing and delivering community engagement programmes for people with limited abilities, differing needs and those often excluded from parts of our society.
They currently run several delivery activities within the Liverpool City Region from cycle hubs based in local parks and centres, including their base with adapted bikes in Birkenhead Park. They include weekly ‘Wheels for All’ & ‘Pedal Away’ rides. Details of these programmes and their work can be found at: www.cycling.org.uk
In addition to these activities, Cycling Projects are thrilled to announce that they are now offering a new training and employability project called Wheels into Employment. They have secured grant funding with eligibility for this programme being open to anyone who is unemployed over the age of 19 years living in Wirral.
They will provide training and volunteering roles for individuals to gain transferable key skills. Including the knowledge and confidence to become more employable using the charity’s cycling and disability cycling activities, as a worthwhile opportunity for growth and personal development.
Participants will gain experience in:
· Volunteering Opportunities with Cycling Projects
· Ride Leadership and Cycle Safety
· Inclusive Cycling
· Improved Physical & Mental Health
· Bike Maintenance
Cycling Projects are very keen to let people know about this programme as they are hoping some suitable candidates will be referred to them. They will then follow this up with an application form and an informal interview/assessment to check eligibility of candidates. If successful, they will be enrolled on the first stage of the programme, which is a structured training plan spread out over 4 weeks, with guided learning hours and volunteering experience. It will be delivered by Ian Jones, a qualified trainer, with help from his Cycling Projects colleagues.
After completion of this stage, they will be selecting candidates to graduate onto the second stage, which will be more in depth and last a further 8 weeks of training and support. They will be offering the additional benefits of First Aid & Ride Leadership training, volunteering roles, a loan bike and access to free learning with use of a ‘tablet’ so they can provide online training. The programme funded by the ESF Community Grant scheme will run until May 2021.
Throughout the programme there is also an allowance for volunteer travel expenses that each candidate can claim for attending the training and taking part in volunteering activities. They are now recruiting people in November/December as small groups of individuals at various entry dates. The available intake of candidates on this programme for WIRRAL residents are: 8 people for stage one and 3 people progress onto stage two.
Ian Jones is the main point of contact for the Wirral Wheels into Employment project.
