Our aim is to address economic and social disadvantage in the Edgbaston by working to remove financial obstacles, which inhibit the achievements of young people in the region.

It is a great example of how communities across a large region have harnessed the energy and resources of local people. It is a great example of how the energy and resources of local people, businesses, corporations and community organisations across a large region have been harnessed to address a key community issue.


"We aim to make a difference on the ground, not just because we have spent so much time listening and learning in communities and business, but because our programmes are about people and their development in the context of employment, enterprise and sustainability. They are practical programmes, based on the need for improvement in our schools, training and workforces.

Though there are many people who live in disadvantaged circumstances, these are not excuses for worklessness but may hold some of the clues as to how we solve worklessness. Our ideas are based on experience – they work – and hold the prospect of sustainable skills training, work-based training and increasing productivity and profitability. We also think community enterprise and responsibility lie centrally in addressing the economic and social issues facing the UK, as it is the way to reduce dependency on the state and renew neighbourhoods.

You will see in this plan a coherent approach to employability and enhancing employability, which includes job coaches, skills programmes that employers actually want, direct links between the employers and the labour pool and a means of actually curing some of our economic and social ills.

I hope you will enjoy reading it, and see the potential in it, and do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss this further."

Duncan Chamberlain
Our programmes include the following:
  • Jobs coaches based in the community who act as the active link between employers and schools/colleges/training providers.
  • Jobs coaches to be based in neighbourhood Job Clubs (Job Centres).
  • Skills programmes developed with employers and delivered by the Jobs Coach within schools and colleges – direct up-skilling of the potential workforce.
  • Training teachers within schools so they can deliver the employer based skills programmes themselves.
  • Peer-coaching: training young people and others in the community to deliver the skills and attitudes training for employment themselves i.e. some young people coach other young people, who in turn teach the next cohort of young people.
  • This is called SLAM! – a peer-coaching programme which enables school, universities and employers to have a sustainable approach to skills and attitude development.
  • Jobs Coaches for employers – working inside a company with employees to develop their skills, capability and productivity.
  • Training staff within companies so they can develop their own Jobs Coaches to work with staff.
  • University Coaches to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds to get into Higher Education.
  • Enterprise Coaches to help and support the development of small businesses and entrepreneurism, including social enterprises within communities. This will enable communities to develop their own economic capability and will be led by those within the communities, after training, and will include work in schools, summer activity camps and community groups.