Background to the Research

• North and West Belfast are areas often characterised by high levels of disadvantage and deprivation, with previous research having identified high incidents of social and health problems relating to alcohol misuse, possible drug or solvent related behaviour problems, an increase in the number of pregnancies, poor literacy and numeracy skills, and general behaviour problems. Opportunity Youth is a multi-agency project that is intended to promote the health and social development of young people within community workshops in North and West Belfast, in order to increase their potential employability. The project achieves this by addressing barriers to health and personal development that have been identified as inhibitors to such development.
• This article reports on the value of the Opportunity Youth approach to improving the employability of trainees attending 4 community workshops, that are accessed as part of the vocational training scheme within the four workshops.
  

Research Approach

• The research team at UU designed a longitudinal study to cover the full duration of the Opportunity Youth project. From a baseline questionnaire, a number of qualitative instruments were developed to evaluate the programme. These instruments were an interview protocol completed with the trainees; interviews with workshop management; a diary/log completed by the project team; and observations by the research team.
• The sample of trainees over the four year period of the research varied due to trainees leaving and going on placements. The total number interviewed were T1 (year 1) = 24; T2 = 23; T3 = 13; and T4 = 13.

Main Findings

• 241 trainees attended the community workshops during the Opportunity Youth programme (63% male and 37% female). The age of the trainees ranged from 16 to 18.8 years.
• 62% of trainees were living at home with both parents, 26% were living at home with one parent, 6% lived with other relatives and 6% lived on their own.
• The most popular reason for joining the community workshops was to get employment training, followed by a reluctance to go back to school. 87% of males and 13% of females saw the workshops as the 'only way to get a job'. 83% of males and 17% of females joined because 'there was nothing else to do'. 70% of males and 25% of females joined due to lack of money.
• 45% of the trainees were keen to join the workshops, almost half did not mind, and only 9% admitted they were not keen. High levels of satisfaction with their training were shown by the trainees.
• Using the Rosenberg scale to measure self-esteem, it was found that the group, as a whole, had high levels of self-esteem, with little recorded change over the programme.
• Using Cantrill's Ladder as a brief measure of morale, it was found that, as a group, the trainees were fairly content with their lives at the time of measurement. Only 5% registered dissatisfaction.
• The workshop staff provided evidence that the Opportunity Youth sessions built on the positive outlook of the trainees, by identifying the characteristics needed for employability and providing contexts for realistically assessing trainee needs and deficits.
• Workshop staff initially took a tentative view, but as the project progressed, the staff moved to a strongly positive stance regarding the relationship of the programme to employability. Trainees could be seen to be acquiring characteristics that would enable them to function more successfully in the workplace.
• A common view from workshop staff was that training in social and life skills should be an integral part of the Jobskills programme, and that the present requirement for NVQ results left less space for the personal development of trainees.
• The roles of supervisors and managers were found to change, leading to skill-enrichment and curriculum developments in the training contexts.
• The Opportunity Youth staff also developed a service to assist the delivery of NVQs in the training organisations, which presents the trainees with valuable assistance in relation to building self-esteem and developing presentation skills.

Conclusions

• The trainees appeared to acquire a range of personal and social competencies, that are relevant to their opportunities to progress in the labour market.
• It can reasonably be asserted that the programme has addressed some key barriers to employment, and that the holistic nature of the programme assisted in providing remediation for deficits in the prior education of the trainees.
• A continuing range of serious trainee problems were identified by the workshop staff, with a major concern being how the increasing pressure of the Jobskills programme and the emphasis on NVQ achievement will reduce the time for personal interaction between workshop staff and trainees.