Welcome to the Damar Training Blog

Our congratulations go to Arshad Kapadia, 23, who has been offered a paralegal apprenticeship with a firm of solicitors in North Manchester. Arshad, who lives in Old Trafford, applied to Damar via the Apprenticeship vacancies website.

When he came in for interview, Arshad spotted that our Get Ready for Work course was the perfect way to improve his chance of getting an apprenticeship. As well as improving his job seeking skills, attending the course enabled Arshad to meet members of Damar’s recuitment team who spotted that his enthusiasm and personality were a perfect fit with the environment at a busy firm of solicitors. Arshad went for interview, was offered the role and starts his new job next week!

Before coming to Damar, Arshad had worked at Trafford Council in a role funded by the Future Jobs Fund. Local government cuts meant that, unfortunately, that role came to an end. We are delighted that we have been able to support Arshad into a full-time, paid job with apprenticeship training and look forward to seeing him progress.

Arshad commented: “Coming on the course massively increased my chances of getting an apprenticeship - I was better prepared for interview and it meant that I found out about vacancies straight away. I am really looking forward to starting my job and hope to qualify as a paralegal in due course. I would recommend the Get Ready for Work course to anyone in Greater Manchester who is aged between 18-24, is currently looking for work and is interested in finding an apprenticeship in an office-based or customer service role.”

Arshad is pictured below in front of the “I love apprenticeships” board at Damar.

We are delighted to announce that apprentices with Damar Training can now apply for an NUS Extra Card. The card, which costs £11 and lasts for 12 months, entitles apprentices to a massive range of discounts at retailers including Amazon, McDonald’s, Odeon, Superdrug, Orange, O2 and many more.

To apply for a card now, please go to www.apprenticeextra.co.uk.

For the latest discounts, new and exclusive offers please visit www.nus.org.uk/en/NUS-Extra.

An overview of some of the current discounts (nb these may change) can be downloaded here: NUS Extra Card - overview

Good to see both the Sunday Times and the Sunday Express publishing a letter that we sent about the benefits of apprenticeships, particularly to smaller businesses. Needless to say both papers cut the letter down - the full version is set out below:

Sunday Express Letter     Sunday Times Letter

Letter to the editor 

Dear Sir, 

All employers should welcome the Business Secretary Vince Cable’s new measures to ensure more young people benefit from an apprenticeship, and to help employers gain the skilled workers they need to grow. 

As part of the Government’s plan for growth, all employers in the public and private sector should recognise that, for many business owners, apprenticeships are a critical way to train up young people and adults that then help grow their firms. 

However, smaller companies often shy away from taking on apprentices. They worry about the costs, bureaucracy, and the potential risks to their business, particularly at a time when employing people is tough due to worries about the economy. 

Small firms must be incentivised to take on apprentices, so I welcome the government’s moves to strip away some of the obstacles that have made it hard for smaller firms to get engaged. 

With youth unemployment reaching a million initiatives such as the grant funding announced today will help the smallest of firms to take on young people. Nevertheless there remains a need for a continued focus on helping small businesses take on apprentices and remove the perceived barriers that prevent them from doing so. 

Part of this is about publicizing the good practice and success stories that are already out there. At my own company we have witnessed how apprentices have contributed to the growth of businesses and we would urge companies – in both the public and private sector – to advantage of the new incentives not put in place by the Government to take on an apprentice. They have everything to gain by doing so. Only one in ten employers takes on apprentices currently which, to my mind, puts the other nine at a competitive disadvantage! 

Jonathan Bourne, 

Managing Director at Damar Training 

The photos taken at our Celebration Event on 3rd November are now available to view and purchase online. The website address is www.bernadettedelaney.com and you will need to click on “private gallery”. For the event ID and password, please call us on 0161 480 8171 (for data protection reasons we do not want to publish these online).

Grants of up to £2,000 are available to employers who recruit a young person aged 16-18 who is resident in Stockport and progresses from an approved pre-apprenticeship training course. More details at Employer fact sheet - 16-18 grants1.pdf.

We have launched a new “Get ready for work” course, designed to equip young (and not so young) jobseekers with the skills they need to secure an apprenticeship position. Delivered over 4 to 6 weeks (1 to 1.5 days per week) the course introduces delegates to the fundamental skills and knowledle required to prepare for work, gain employment and be successful in any organisation. Full details are set out on the attachment below.

Get ready for work.pdf

Grants of up to £2,500 are available for organisations with fewer than 250 staff who recruit young people aged 18-24 from Greater Manchester. There is more information on the attached fact sheet.

18-24 grant fact sheet

Hot off the press, here are outlines of four great new courses from Damar:

1. Welcome to Work

2. ILEX Legal Secretarial

3. Introduction to Excel

4. CMI Level 5 Award

Please call Damar on 0161 480 8171 to find out more about any of these courses.

We were delighted to present Charlotte Clarke at EJ Electrical Services in Timperley with our learner of the month award for April earlier this week (a bit delayed because of the bank holidays). We introduced Charlotte to her apprenticeship position in October 2010 and she has done really well, recently completing her level 2 apprenticeship in business and administation. Congratulations to Charlotte, her supervisor Camille O’Neill and her assessor Jane Hunt.

There was an article about Damar in the Manchester Evening News business section on 31st March 2011. A copy is attached.

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