Darren Sands, tutor at Central Skills, cutting the opening ribbon

Care Training has been supporting learners in Bilborough for nearly two years. Nextstep, Greater Nottingham Partnership and learndirect gave us the funding to support local people into work and help them achieve qualifications, and with the help of Glenbrook Primary School we have helped over 100 people in the area achieve their goals.

As a result of this success we have invested in a new training warehouse on Glaisdale Parkway, called Central Skills, to help people get jobs and qualifications that are sought by local employers.

Central Skills (The Bilborough Warehouse) officially opened on 4 September 2008. It offers state-of-the-art training facilities and will also feature a learndirect centre where anybody can do Literacy, Numeracy, IT and vocational training. There will also be qualified staff on hand to provide general advice and guidance on helping you move on in your career. Click here for directions.

We are passionate about supporting learners and employers throughout the region and we hope that the warehouse gives the people of the West Area of Nottingham a sustainable facility to be proud of.

Within Central Skills (The Bilborough Warehouse) the New Deal Team helps customers to improve their skills across various areas of vocational learning:

	Warehousing & Manufacturing for customers wanting to work in a distribution, logistics or warehouse environment.
	Fork Lift Truck where customers can become a fully qualified fork lift truck operator through a course which is RTITB accredited.
	Installations for customers that want to gain hands on experience working with information technology.

Real life

Three months ago John came to us with very little basic skills and a poor attitude to gaining employment. We assessed his current capabilities and then enrolled him on a basic skills learndirect programme. The programme consisted of both Literacy and Numeracy, where he worked up to Level 2 (which is equivalent to a GCSE qualification standard).

Over the 13 weeks we worked together with John to create a new CV and speculative letter.

We helped with telephone, team building and interview techniques as well as providing workshops in Fork Lift Awareness and Warehouse Health & Safety.

John became more positive, applying for numerous jobs and attending interviews with a new found confidence. He’s now working in the construction industry, and is hoping to progress to an NVQ in Plant Operations.