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No One Left Behind

  • The Scottish Government and Fife Council want to create an employability system that is more flexible, joined-up and responsive to the needs of people using services, as well as better able to adapt to the ever-changing social and economic context in which we all live and work.


    No One Left Behind is a new way of working with this in mind. The most important part of the planning and design process is people.


    What is happening now?

    Based on the findings of 2020's No One Left Behind Conversations, Fife's No One Left Behind Commissioning Framework for 2022-25 was published in October 2021.


    Bids received for 2022/2023 have been assessed by a formal assessment panel with representation from the Department for Work and Pensions, Skills Development Scotland and Fife Council Area Management, as well as a panel of Fife Voluntary Action volunteers with lived experience.


    The following projects have been allocated funding for 2022-2023, with provision to begin in each case from 01 April 2022


    NOLB services in Fife - 2022 - 2023
    Click on a project for more information
    BRAG Enterprises: Brighter Futures
    Target group: Young people (19 to 24 years of age)
    Project description: This service will provide employment support to young people aged 19-24, focusing primarily on those affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Keyworkers will provide end-to-end support across the employability pathway including job brokerage. Bright Futures incorporates 4 delivery partners- bringing added value, and providing specialisms and focused support to young people at every stage.
    Contact: Kirsten Spence
    BRAG Enterprises: Fife ETC
    Target group: Adult (25 years and upwards)
    Project description: Person-centred collaborative support for adults includes a holistic assessment of personal circumstances to establish meaningful goals. This is a Fife-wide project which will support over 25s into a positive progression route. This project will provide help for those individuals who aren't currently interacting with mainstream services to access and achieve sustainable jobs. The organisation's six delivery partners will operate together to provide interventions- from engagement through to in-work support.
    Contact: Gayle Penman
    BRAG Enterprises: Square Start
    Target group: Specialist (Lone Parent)
    Project description: Square Start Fife is a fully inclusive service for families - including lone parents- across Fife. The service will concentrate on the makeup of the family and ensuring all are supported to provide increased aspirations and outcomes.

    The service involves working with a blend of one-to-one support and group work - all designed to break down barriers, either perceived or actual, digitally include families, reduce social isolation, improve mental wellbeing, increase confidence in children, and increase confidence in adults' parenting.
    Contact: Lesley Burnett
    FEAT: Out to Work
    Target group: Specialist (Mental Health)
    Project description: FEAT (Out to Work) is a personal development, self-management and early employability programme for young people and adults experiencing severe mental health issues. The programme will lead to focused job search and in-work support through the Individual Placement & Support.

    The initial engagement programme has two separate strands- one outdoor-based provision Grow your Mind and one indoor/online provision >Employ your Mind. Variety of shorter, introductory one-to-one and group activities also provided. Additional provision of training to other frontline service staff.
    Contact: Joanne Koziel
    Fife Council: EASYP
    Target group: Young people (16 to 18 years of age)
    Project description: A strengths-based employability pathway for young people (16-18) facing multiple health disadvantages. Keyworker one-to-one support is provided across all stages of the employability pathway, including in-work support.
    Contact: Cheryl Morgan | Easy P
    Fife Council Supported Employment Service: Positive Pathways
    Target group: Adult (25 years and upwards)
    Project description: Specialist employability provision to help adults who have learning/physical disabilities, health conditions, autistic spectrum disorders, mental health issues or sensory impairments find and stay in work. Designed to help those struggling to find mainstream employability provisions or work.
    Contact: Tom Brown
    Fife Gingerbread: Making it Work for Lone Parents
    Target group: Specialist (Lone Parent)
    Project description: Making it Work for Lone Parents has three main strands:

    1.Engaging: reaching isolated lone parents furthest removed from employability to build confidence.
    2.Support: empowering lone parents to realise their strengths and achieve goals.
    3.Progress: supporting lone parents to find a healthy work, life and family balance to progress and overcome in-work poverty.
    Contact: Laura Millar
    Fife International Forum: Pre-Academy
    Target group: Specialist (Other)
    Project description: The Pre-Academy will champion migrants' rights and welfare through access to learning English, help them develop communication skills, educate, and encourage candidates to develop the foundation skills that employers are looking for. The aim is to empower individuals with language, explore personal skills and strengths, help them understand employers' expectations, and improve migrants' employment prospects in how to become a successful employee. It further involves equipping them with the knowledge and tools to move on to a bespoke academy or further support them in their employment journey. The pre-academy will be person-centred and will nurture aspiration to meet opportunities.
    Contact: Alison Jardine
    The Prince's Trust: Prince's Trust
    Target group: Young people (16 to 24 years of age)
    Project description: Through an online casework approach supporting a face-to-face employability programme, this project will support young people to gain work experience and expand their personal and social development skills to progress into a positive destination including engagement with The Prince's Trust Get Into programme.
    Contact: Kara Lindsay
    The Venture Trust: Venture Trust
    Target group: Young people (16 to 24 years of age)
    Project description: The Inspiring Young Futures programme (IYF) supports young people facing complex challenges, often with experience of trauma and most having left school with few qualifications, to make positive change and improve prospects through building confidence and problem solving, decision making and communicating skills.
    Contact: Ian Patterson

    How did we get here?

    From June to August 2020 the No-One Left Behind Team - coordinated by Fife Voluntary Action's Lived Experience Team, Fife Centre for Equalities and Fife Council- ran a series of 16 online Collaborative Conversations via Zoom with over 122 participants. In line with the Scottish Government's approach to No One Left Behind, we were particularly interested in hearing the voices of those most likely to be marginalised because of their minority status.


    In addition, 126 people completed the No-One Left Behind online survey and posted messages on our Let's Talk About Fife page.


    This helped us to understand the best way to use the money available and to improve how services work together.


    The key findings from the Conversations and the No One Left Behind Survey are summarised here.


    These conversations were co-designed and co-delivered with people who use employability services. We invited people from all walks of life to help us understand what people need and want when it comes to employability, and uncovered a wealth of insight to inform what happens next. We included staff, people who use or have used services, and those who might want to use services from as many different perspectives as possible.

This page was last updated on 18 March 2022.
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Lunchtime Learning


Fife Voluntary Action runs a series of online Lunchtime Learning sessions for staff members working across the third sector and related services.


These sessions cover a wide range of topics drawn from and inspired by the findings of the NOLB Conversations.

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