Hundreds gathered to celebrate the achievements of Employment East

Over a hundred people gathered at Hilton Hotel on Thursday 18 January to celebrate the achievements of the Employment East project.

Funded by the Social Investment Fund (SIF), Employment East is a unique initiative that was set up to help tackle poverty and deprivation in East Belfast. Business in the Community is part of a Consortium delivering this project, a Consortium which also includes GEMS NI, Bryson FutureSkills and East Belfast Enterprise.  The project lead is Charter NI.

The event featured a number of guest speakers including Gavin Robinson MP; James Crawford, Lagan Construction; Hugh McCaughey, Chair, Employment East Employment Forum.

After dinner, programme participants were honoured in a special awards ceremony which recognised their achievements.

Key highlights of the programme to date include:

• 190 people have registered for support from the project
• 67 people have achieved qualifications through the Flexible Training Fund
• 6 confirmed as entering employment
• 14 participants have had a six month paid job opportunity with a host employer
• Two participants have entered mainstream employment with their host employer
• Seven people have been supported by the Self-Employment Programme
• Five people have received a bursary to date of up to £1,500