Adults seeking work in Lancashire will be able to give their employment prospects a boost thanks to a new online tool from the Lancashire Skills & Employment Hub called ESCALATE.
ESCALATE is a web-based tool which brings together for the very first time Lancashire’s varied opportunities available for those looking to start their journey into work.
Opportunities, which are available across the whole of the Lancashire area, include employment resources, skills provision, confidence building, mentoring, volunteering and pre-employment training courses.
This means that both individuals and advisers will be able to have access to the details of a suitable opportunity near them with just a few clicks of a mouse.
ESCALATE will also help referral agencies easily find the right offer for their customers, saving time and improving the choice of services available.
Dr Michele Lawty-Jones of the Lancashire Skills & Employment Hub said: “Bringing together hundreds of Lancashire’s different employment and adult learning opportunities into a single, digitally-based portal has been a complex task, especially with the huge number of organisations involved in delivering such a diverse range of services.
“Now, thanks to all of Lancashire’s different agencies and partners collaborating, we have created the new ESCALATE platform. It will allow anyone the chance to search available resources and services on offer, in every part of the county, to find the right type of support.”
“Ultimately ESCALATE is designed to get people on a pathway to employment. This will not only bring benefits for themselves, but for the wider Lancashire economy.”
Sharon Riding, District External Relationship Manager, for Jobcentreplus said: “Historically this provision has never been brought together in one digital place with a sophisticated search function. This means that some people keen to get back into work, or who have tried to enter employment for the first time, may have missed out on certain types of support due to a lack of information being available quickly and easily.
“Through ESCALATE this will now be resolved, our Work Coaches will have a powerful new resource at their fingertips to help unlock access to opportunities across the whole of Lancashire.”
