Anchors and their role in employment
Essex Anchor Network were delighted to welcome over 75 guests to our very first virtual Anchor Learning Event on Tuesday 20th July. Speakers from across Essex and the UK shared their own experiences and learning around how Anchor Institutions can utilise their role in employment to support their local communities and economy.
Anchors (large, non-profit organisations tied to a place) as large employers have a significant capacity to create employment opportunities for local people, make it as easy as possible for people to access these opportunities, and improve the wellbeing of their employees, and this session aided organisations in identifying actions they could take to fulfil their potential as Anchors.
We were privileged to welcome speakers from Leeds City Council & Leeds Beckett University, hearing about some of the success stories to come from their own Anchor Network and how they have developed their roles as employers. Their session can be viewed below:
We were also delighted to welcome Kate Carr, from Business In The Community (BITC), who detailed BITC's campaign to help employers break down barriers within recruitment processes, allowing young people to access more jobs. Kate's session can be viewed below:
Suffolk & North East Essex ICS joined us to present on the NHS Anchor Charter, and to look in to its links to workforce and employment. This can be viewed below:
Mid & South Essex (MSE) NHS Foundation Trust joined us to demonstrate their Anchor Programme Workforce Dashboard, the data it provides and how this information helps their Anchor Programme to target and focus activity and resources, and to assess and measure success. Their session can be viewed here:
Essex County Council's (ECC) Entry to Work team gave us an overview of Entry to Work programmes being taken forward by ECC, including apprenticeships, return to work placements and guaranteed interview schemes. Danielle Foster's presentation can be seen below:
Our final item was an overview of the inclusive employment practices being developed by ECC and Essex Cares Ltd for those who face barriers to employment to access work, with a particular focus on those with learning difficulties / disabilities. This session can be viewed below:
We were thrilled by the number of people who came to learn more about the role that Anchors can play in supporting an inclusive local economy through their influence on employment. We’d like to thank all speakers for their presentations and for demonstrating just some of the many opportunities that are taking place, both locally and nationally, and for sharing their successes which are already having a real impact on people’s lives.
A summary of the discussion points captured is now available for you to access here: https://www.essexfuture.org.uk/media/1535/anchor-network-learning-event-employment-summary.pdf
This Learning Event was the first in a series which will be taking place over the coming months and each will focus on a different lever that organisations can use to help shape their local community. For further information on these events, please check for updates on www.essexfuture.org.uk, or e-mail essex.partners@essex.gov.uk.