More than 800 learners are set to benefit from Skills Bootcamps in York and North Yorkshire.

York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority has commissioned 33 courses to date, offering key skills which employers in the region are seeking.

Twenty skills providers are delivering courses, with subjects including digital and marketing, green skills, HGV driving, construction, finance, leadership and management, forestry and creative. The programme of courses is now underway and runs until the end of March 2025.

Skills Bootcamps are a Department for Education initiative, helping learners develop new skills that employers are looking for. They provide an opportunity to train in a new industry or progress in learners’ current careers. The Combined Authority secured funding from the Department for Education to provide courses in the region.

David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: “The Combined Authority’s programme of Skills Bootcamps creates opportunities for people in and out of work and helps fill vital skills gaps for local employers. I’m really pleased that, as a Combined Authority, we have secured Government funding to create these opportunities. It’s a boost for residents, businesses, and will help the overall growth of our local economy.”

Craven College will be offering an Arboriculture and Forestry Skills Bootcamp. This training covers the essential qualifications for those looking to work in the forestry and arboriculture sector, including chainsaw maintenance, the felling of small trees, tree climbing and aerial rescue.

Joe Gaughan, 32, one of the participants on a previous course, was self-employed and had recently moved into the arboriculture sector. He hoped to subcontract his services to companies in the local area.

 

Having started the Skills Bootcamp with no prior experience of chainsaw work, Joe gained the four vital qualifications he needs to be able to work in this sector.

 

He credits the Skills Bootcamp with enabling him to take this new step in his career, saying: “Without the Skills Bootcamp, I don’t think I’d have been able to progress and get into the work that I want to do as quickly. Being able to enrol onto this course and complete it has probably halved the time that it’d take me to get into the industry.”

 

“It’ll lead me to being able to work for myself, make more money and subcontract myself out at a higher rate.”

Skills Bootcamps take up to 16 weeks to complete. They’re flexible, so learning can fit around family or other commitments. They can take place at a college, another training provider or online.

Learners need to be 19 or over to do a Skills Bootcamp.  If they are out of work, learners are guaranteed a job interview with an employer after completing a Skills Bootcamp. Learners can also get a new job or apprenticeship, progress in their current job or find new business opportunities if they’re self-employed.

A menu of courses currently available is published on the York & North Yorkshire Growth Hub website here.

Published on Monday 21 October 2024