BBO at the Buck Project

Building Better Opportunities

What is Building Better Opportunities?

The Buck Project worked with partner organisations to deliver a free programme to help transform the lives of the long-term unemployed.

The programme, Building Better Opportunities, was funded by the European Social Fund and the Big Lottery Fund. It focussed on helping the long-term unemployed across Oxfordshire get the skills and confidence they need to get into work.

Just 0.7 per cent of Oxfordshire residents were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance as of summer 2016. While this figure is low, the reality is that those who remain unemployed face significant barriers to entering the workplace. In addition to language and cultural barriers, nearly three quarters of them (70%) suffered from mental health issues or had experienced homelessness, addiction or offending histories.

The support offered

Building Better Opportunities focussed on supporting:

● the unemployed and economically inactive
● people aged 50+
● ethnic minorities
● people with disabilities
● people living in rural communities

We supported them in making the most of existing education and work opportunities, as well as improving their work readiness. Our aim was that they could access vacancies in Oxfordshire's growing sectors such as retail, hospitality and health and social care. This would help them rebuild their lives and also benefit our society, help fill recruitment gaps for employers and contribute to the county's continuing economic development.

Support was tailored to meet individual needs, but could include:

● one to one mentoring and guidance with a team of expert coaches
● working with partners to access volunteering or training opportunities
● getting ready for work (help with job hunting skills, CV writing, etc.)
● childcare provision

Our aim was that a minimum of 350 people from economically deprived and rural communities across Oxfordshire would engage in the activities to improve their work readiness by September 2019. In addition, we wanted at least 27% of those who were economically inactive when joining the project to move into job searching.

Free employability-skills courses

Get That Job

The partners in this project were:

● Activate Learning
● Abingdon & Witney College
● Workers' Educational Association
● Ethnic Minority Business Service
● Cherwell District Council
● Jobcentre Plus
● Sanctuary Housing
● The Sunshine Centre
● Sue Ryder
● The Buck Project
● Synolos
● Thames Valley Community Rehabilitation Company
● Oxford Homeless Pathways
● Land Securities
● Laing O’Rourke
● Restore

Financially supported in 2012 by
The Allen Lane Foundation.

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