What is Fresh Futures?

Fresh Futures in Financial Services has been set up to increase access into the Financial Services Industry for the people of East London. Fresh Futures in Financial Services is part of Employment Solutions, an award-winning partnership between Tower Hamlets College, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (Skillsmatch) and Jobcentre Plus. Across the borough of Tower Hamlets, the partnership placed over 700 people into work last year. The partnership aims to meet the needs of jobseekers by matching them to the needs of employers. We focus on partnership working to create bespoke programmes for employers, ensuring that their needs are met, and prepare candidates through employability training, specific recruitment programmes, individual job preparation or qualifications. For more information on Employment Solutions at Tower Hamlets College, please contact Shamsol Hoque, Employment Solutions Manager, on 020 7510 7646.

Canary Wharf and the City hold a large variety of job opportunities, and as the Financial and Related business sector expands, these opportunities are likely to increase. Unfortunately, many of these jobs are not currently accessed by people from the local area where there are high levels of unemployment. The project works with local employers to prepare local people, ensuring that they have the right skills and attitudes to benefit from these opportunities.

The project has six objectives and each of them explores ways local people receive training, preparation and assistance so they can make the grade in the Financial and Related business sector in the City and Canary Wharf.

Achievements and lessons learnt from the project need to be sustainable so we leave behind best practice to engage and prepare local people for the industry. This includes:

  • A network for Financial and Related businesses, to share opportunities for consultation and training between employers and other stakeholders and that links with local communities can be strengthened
  • The Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) service, which will include a brand new career assessment tool with a focus on Financial and business related jobs, led by ELBA
  • A toolkit for employers to take the strain out of providing work experience, led by Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership (THEBP)
  • Short Financial Literacy training programmes for tutors and for voluntary sector trainers, in conjunction with the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Services Against Financial Exclusion (SAFE) and the Basic Skills Agency
  • Models of bespoke employability preparation, where the needs of individual companies are assessed and local people are trained accordingly, led by Employment Solutions, Tower Hamlets College
  • A Mentoring website demonstrating to both students and employers how they can benefit from mentoring and job coaching, led by Tower Hamlets College and THEBP
  • A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) toolkit for employers on the benefits of local and diverse recruitment, led by the City of London corporation