News Archive

Orchard Skills Centre on Drake Street, Rochdale was officially opened on 23rd February, with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting by the Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor Keith Swift and Ms Sue Etchells.

Orchard Training Solutions; Hopwood Hall College’s Employer Engagement Arm developed the skills centre after the government launched the Response to Redundancy (R2R) initiative in mid 2009. The aim of the project is to help individuals who are unemployed or at risk of redundancy and make training available so they can broaden their skill range and increase their employability.

The College’s Vice-Principal for Finance & Corporate Services, John Spindler, and the College’s Vice-Principal for Skills, Dr O J Rahim, members of the College executive, local government representatives, partners, tutors and students attended.

The opening provided an opportunity for the many organisations who work with the skills centre to meet and celebrate the successes that the project has enjoyed so far.

Jane McAuley, R2R Project Co-ordinator said: “In just a short space of time since the skills centre opened in early November, we’ve already had learners who have completed training courses, secured job interviews and accepted job offers. In an area of high unemployment like Rochdale, this is a fantastic achievement.”

Siobhan Probert of Syke, a former hairdresser, had been unemployed for several months when she called in to the skills centre to enquire about the training opportunities available. Siobhan said: “The staff at the skills centre were friendly and really helpful. I wanted to get into office work and they put me on the office skills course followed by basic and intermediate IT. I got help updating my CV and was back in employment within 2 months of contacting them. I’d recommend anyone who is in my situation to contact the skills centre.”

Michelle Evans from The Ladies Only Gym Ltd, established 9 years ago to offer a friendly service to women looking to maintain a healthy life style, is someone who recognises the importance of investing in their staff.

Michelle was delighted to learn from Rochdale Town Centre Manager Debbie O’Brian that training opportunities were available free of charge through the employer engagement arm of Hopwood Hall College, Orchard Training Solutions.

It was identified that there was a need for her staff to improve some of their skills, and employees at the gym were keen to brush up on skills vital to their jobs such as maths.

Through consultation with Orchard Training Solutions, a bespoke training programme was designed to suit the needs of the staff. It was agreed that staff would work towards achieving a recognised qualification in numeracy. This covered their ability to make calculations required to target heart rates, use formulas to work out body mass index, work out costs of memberships and handle cash.

Numeracy tutor Emma Thornton arranged weekly sessions which took place at the gym, allowing minimum disruption to the business, and also provided work books that learners were able to take away and complete at home.

One learner Donna Law, commented that she used to shy away from maths classes at school, and since she has completed the course her overall confidence has increased, particularly when she helps her children with their homework. Donna said “Emma showed a great deal of understanding towards us and explained things really well. I would recommend to anyone to get more qualifications in Maths, and Orchard Training Solutions really offered us a great service.”

Other learners who achieved qualifications in Numeracy are Zoë Chaplin, Becky Richardson, Lois Darlington and Lauren Hamer. Lauren is still currently at school - she did her school work experience at the gym and was also offered the opportunity to get extra help with Maths which has encouraged her to do well with her GCSE in the subject next year.

All the learners agreed that they’d like to continue with further courses and are looking forward to seeing what they can do next.

Orchard Training Solutions, the Employer Engagement Arm of Hopwood Hall College, has just had its first successful job outcome under the Response to Redundancy project.

The Orchard Skills Centre on Drake Street, Rochdale offers short courses to people who are unemployed, with the aim of helping them re-skill or refresh and learn about new vocations, as well as helping them boost their confidence with employability skills, advice and guidance.

Anthony Grant was recently referred to the Skills Centre where he initially had an Information, Advice and Guidance session with Natalie Davies. Natalie, one of the IAG Officers at the Skills Centre said: “Initially when Anthony came into the centre, he lacked confidence and motivation. After completing the Pathway to Office Skills course with tutor David Kari, he had a new-found enthusiasm and was keen to be booked onto another course.”

The following week Anthony went to the centre to enrol on his new course with news that he had secured a job interview. That interview was followed by news of a second stage interview and finally a formal job offer.

Anthony of Rochdale said “I can’t praise Orchard Skills Centre enough. The overall service was excellent from the way the tutor dealt with me and the other students, to the individual one to one guidance I received. It gave me such a lift during the two weeks I was there and really built my confidence. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

The staff at the centre all noticed a change in Anthony from the first time he walked in. Natalie remarked: “The transformation in Anthony was fantastic to see. He was so happy to have received his job offer and we are all really pleased that he has achieved such a positive outcome. It makes our job feel really worthwhile and we look forward to many more success stories like Anthony’s in the future.”

Hopwood Hall College has just taken delivery of its two brand new Smart cars.

The Smart cars were chosen because of their iconic appearance and are leased in order to raise the profile of and provide free advertising for Orchard Training Solutions, which is the employer engagement arm of Hopwood Hall College. The second Smart car features “Skills 4 U”, which is a project funded by New Heart for Heywood to raise the skill levels of Heywood residents. Both cars are highly visible due to the graphics supplied by Threefold Signs & Exhibitions Ltd based in Rochdale, to the college’s design specification.

The cars are leased from another local company, Anthony K Associates Ltd of Middleton, who specialise in vehicle financing. Funding for both cars has come from within the agreed running costs for each project and works out on a monthly basis as the same cost as a display advert in the local papers.

Hopwood Hall College’s marketing manager Stephen Drysdale said that “Anthony K Associates were a pleasure to deal with from the beginning. They sourced the car to meet our specifications, quoted a competitive leasing rate, delivered the car on time and organised the final graphics through Threefold Signs & Exhibitions to our design specification. The teams using the cars are delighted”.

Jane McAuley, Implementation Co-ordinator at Boots UK Ltd recently wrote to Orchard Training Solutions’ Karen Humphreys to express Boots’ thanks over assistance in retraining their staff who were being made redundant.

Jane said “What a journey, I feel so proud of what everybody has achieved. Nearly 50% of staff at the Heywood Warehouse have already accomplished their desired goal, this is a massive achievement particularly in the difficult economic time. The staff have remained positive throughout and have risen to every challenge putting them in the best possible place for their futures.

“Thank you for the contribution you and your team have made to this success and for all the dedication, effort, support and hard work in enabling them to achieve their goals. The commitment from everybody concerned has been outstanding.

“The team from Heywood Warehouse would like to wish everybody a fond farewell and good luck, happiness and success in the future.”

On June 5th, Orchard Training Solutions attended the “Getting the Best from Your Volunteers” event at CVS Rochdale. They spoke to Volunteer Co-ordinators from across the borough about training opportunities available from themselves and their volunteers.

The event was very successful. In a letter to Orchard Training Solutions, Sheila Pilling, Volunteer Centre Manager said “Thos present were very interested in the information available. Following the presentations, the attendees gave the event an overwhelming ‘high’ on the evaluation forms”.

On Tuesday 14th October, It was the official opening of the Council for Voluntary Service at Partnership House which is now their new home. The Business Development Unit are currently working with the CVS Chief Executive Kathy Shaw and Finn Jenson her colleague, delivering training to employees of CVS and to volunteers.

One day Health and Hygiene courses took place at CVS in November and we are planning to deliver NVQ Level 2 Team Leading and Level 3 and Level 4 in Management. In the pipeline with CVS will be Skills For Life delivery and any other training requested by CVS employees or volunteers.Volunteers can now access Train to Gain Funding which is excellent news and we look forward to working with CVS on a long term basis offering solutions to training needs within the Voluntary Sector.