Opening the door to equal opportunities

Aug 17 2007 by Iain Laing, The Journal

A PROJECT to open up cultural employment opportunities in the region’s housing sector is celebrating a successful first two years.

OPEn HoUSE was established in 2005 and has promoted equality and diversity in the sector across the Tees Valley and North-East and tackled discrimination and inequality in the labour market.

Equal project manager Yasmin Khan said: “Very early on, we established that the BME (Black Minority Ethnic) communities in the Tees Valley were under-represented in the housing sector workforce, with less than a third of the regional three per cent representation.

“By working with nine key housing providers across the region, the representation now mirrors and, in some cases, exceeds the region’s population profile.

“As well as the impressive employment figures, we have worked with supply chains to promote race equality and diversity.”

The main partners in OPEn HoUSE are Tees Valley Housing Group, Endeavour/North Star Housing, Jobcentre Plus, Coast and Country Housing, Business Link, Connexions, Talent Recruitment Ltd, Banks of the Wear Community Projects, Middlesbrough Council and the Black Minority Ethnic Network.

As well as this development partnership, the project has worked with Tees Valley Housing Group, Coast and Country, Durham Aged Miners Homes, Endeavour/North Star Housing, Broadacres Housing, Tristar Homes, Housing Hartlepool, Erimus Housing and Railway Housing Association, along with all their supply chains, to achieve its aims.

In the first year of the project, 49 people attended the awareness days, with 40 applicants competing for 22 positions. Employment was offered to 25 people for 50 weeks, with training and progression opportunities. The second year saw 103 applicants, with 42 interviewed for 22 training places.

The skills and qualifications achieved has resulted in 82% of those involved in the programme already receiving employment in the sector. This has helped encourage more people from the BME community to apply for work in the sector.