From 1996 to 2009 the City Fringe Partnership delivered major initiatives to improve the prospects of residents and support London's small businesses.

  1. About the CFP
  2. Achievements
  3. Project case studies
  4. In pictures

Download CFP research on the area and key employment sectors, as well as sector investment plans and evaluation reports of its programmes.

  1. Research

CFP projects, project delivery partners and links to organisations at the heart of CFP activities.

  1. Projects and links

Achievements:

The legacy

  • Over-achievement on skills and employment support targets set by funders, including particular success among BAME and disability groups.
  • Employment support to 2,000 people.
  • New skills for over 300 unemployed local residents from hardest to reach groups.
  • Jobs in Mind mental health project got residents off incapacity benefits by directly assisting them into new jobs.
CFP project beneficiaries

Helping people into work: Pathways to Jobs

Despite overall growth in the economy between 1997 and 2008 worklessness and skills gaps have persisted within the City Fringe, with many underlying causes. Residents are often not registered with Job Centre Plus for example, meaning that mainstream providers cannot provide adequate levels of service to them.

There is a real need for basic skills development to help the long-term unemployed and those with low prospects into jobs in the area. The CFP tackled these issues with two major employment initiatives, Pathways to Jobs 1 and 2.

The first Pathways to Jobs programme ran from 2003 to 2006 and was designed to help residents from some of the most excluded groups to overcome barriers to employment. You can read a full evaluation report of the first Pathways to Jobs programme here.

With this expertise in delivering effective employment programmes the London Development Agency asked the CFP to manage the Way to Work project at the London Muslim Centre. The project supported members of the local community wanting to return to work, for example after a period of unemployment or raising children. It brought together local and national agencies such as SureStart, Job Centre Plus and Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust to provide access to training and employment opportunities based on local employment needs, including the Metropolitan Police Community Support Officer careers event.

Focusing on the hardest-to-reach

Building on the success of Pathways to Jobs 1, which assisted some 1,100 people into jobs and gave 1,500 people access to training, the second programme was established in 2007 to provide support to unemployed people who were considered furthest from the labour market.

Beneficiaries gained vocational skills that reflected the needs of local employers alongside soft skills that supported their transition into employment. Many projects involved outreach workers with specific knowledge of local communities or the involvement of agencies dedicated to training for key groups.

Fast Train to Work provided courses on Health & Safety, Health & Social Care and Food Hygiene for disabled residents seeking employment. You can read about how the project helped one Islington resident here.

Jobs in Mind addressed the specific needs of local residents with mental health disabilities by providing condition management support, assertiveness training and financial management as well as skills assessments.

Skillsmatch combined training with 6-8 week work placements or intensive employment support for residents from Tower Hamlets, focusing on key local employment sectors to match beneficiaries with real job opportunities.

Other projects worked with young people and the long-term unemployed to customise job searches and to act as job brokerages for residents. From Playground to Payslip helped 50 local women with children overcome barriers to employment by creating individual action plans to help them return to work on their own terms.

Access to Employment, Employment Pathways and The Whole Thing provided employment support to unemployed people from within their own communities. Access provided extensive one-to-one job searches and Employment Pathways gave 125 people bespoke job preparation while The Whole Thing assisted young people, the long-term unemployed and people on incapacity benefits in Islington, directly assisting 42 people into employment.