Minister celebrates 2,000th employment and training opportunity created by Lift

New figures reveal the Welsh Government’s Lift Programme has provided 2,000 training and job opportunities to people from households where no-one is in work and helped more than 350 people into employment.

The Lift programme provides dedicated one-to-one support to people who have been out of work for more than six months and face employment barriers, such as young single parents, disabled people, adults with no qualifications or those with poor employment records.

The statistics mean Lift is well on track to meet its ambitious target of providing 5,000 training and employment opportunities by the end of 2017.

To celebrate the milestone, Communities and Tackling Poverty Minister, Lesley Griffiths, has visited the Ebbw Vale Institute in Blaenau Gwent to meet some of the people who have benefitted from the scheme, including Donna Bevan who is now employed as a care worker, thanks to support from Lift.

Lesley Griffiths said:

“Sometimes in life all people need is a helping hand to enable them to make a change which will have a significant and lasting positive impact on their lives.

“The Lift programme is doing exactly this, providing practical, hands-on support to people who want to improve their lives by helping remove the hurdles preventing them from getting a job.

“Today, I am pleased to be celebrating an important milestone – providing 2,000 training and employment opportunities to people from workless households in Wales, including  more than 350 people supported into employment.”

The programme is being delivered in nine areas across Wales, where Lift mentors work with local people from workless households, identifying reasons why they are not in work and providing support to help overcome those issues. Mentors remain in contact with participants for up to 12 months after they start in their new job or training placement to offer them support and help.