Women’s Tec Host Annual Awards Day for Women Graduating in Horticulture and Painting and Decorating
On Thursday, 13 April 2006, Women’s Tec, the largest quality provider of training for women in non-traditional skills in Northern Ireland, hosted an Awards Day to celebrate the educational achievement of the participants of two of its training courses “WREEP” and “WIPDT”.
WREEP (Women Returners Environmental Employment Programme) was launched in 2004, after receiving £61,000 of funding from the EU Urban II Community Initiative Programme to deliver training and practical experience to women in North Belfast to enable them to gain an NVQ II in Environmental Conservation or Amenity Horticulture. The programme offered a holistic approach and additional support including childcare, travel, ECDL training, personal development sessions and job search.
WIPDT (Women into Painting and Decorative Trades), also launched in 2004 after receiving £55,000 from Urban II, enabled women to train and gain an NVQ II qualification in Painting and Decorative Trades. This programme followed the same holistic approach as WREEP.
Staff and trainees from Women’s Tec, Board Members, Urban II representatives, Enterprise Ulster and Conservation Volunteers attended the event to congratulate the achievers and wish a new generation of tradeswomen well on their new career path.
Anne McVicker, Chief Executive of Women’s Tec congratulated the women on their achievements:
“It is great to see these women achieving qualifications in a sector where there is a skills shortage and representation of women is low. The only way to reduce this gender gap is to minimise the barriers that prevent women accessing training and employment opportunities. Women’s Tec therefore offer a support mechanism which focuses on the value of individualised supports and capacity building needs of those coming to training.
Urban II was the first to offer Women’s Tec funding for this type of support. The success of these programmes has laid the foundation for Women’s Tec to secure funding for other training programmes.
Women’s Tec have now completed a Business Plan and are hoping to set up as a construction trading company by September 2006. Those graduating from the Urban II funded programmes will then be able to set up as self-employed tradeswomen within the company.
“None of this would have been possible without the initial support and belief from the Urban II Programme,” continued Anne.
Murdo Murray, Chief Executive of North Belfast Partnership, the implementing body for the Urban II Programme was delighted with the success of these programmes:
“Congratulations to the 12 women who completed the courses and gained qualifications in Horticulture and Painting and Decorative Trades. This is a great achievement and North Belfast Partnership wishes them all the best in their future careers.
I would also like to congratulate Women’s Tec on their innovative approach to reducing barriers to employment. One of the key objectives of the Urban II Programme is to link the population of inner North Belfast to opportunities in the mainstream economy and by providing childcare, transport and personal development opportunities in addition to the training programmes the Women’s Tec is helping remove some of the main barriers to employment for women. ”
|
