“Brilliant…”, “extremely replicable…”, “no weaknesses…”
and “a sector leader..”. The judges were overwhelmed by
Accent Community Partnerships’ success in training people
from local black and minority ethnic (BME) communities
to work in local construction projects in Bradford.

The Bradford initiative is one of several construction
skills training programmes run by the partnership.
The others are in Middlesbrough, West Lancashire
and London.

Each scheme is tailored to the meet the needs of
the local community and fill skill gaps for the local
market. In Bradford, where unemployment is 17% and
BME unemployment is 3.5 times that of the white
population, three initiatives were launched in 2005:

• Youthbuild – which helps young people from ethnic
minorities into construction, with a focus on those at
risk of offending and outside of the education system;

• Women into Construction – which has a particular
focus on women from ethnic minorities. An additional
programme has been developed in response to
demand from Accent’s own tenants; and

• Finance and Business – which encourages women,
particularly from ethnic minorities, to gain
administration, business and financial skills.

Accent works in partnership with Bradford City Council,
training bodies, local colleges and employers, but the
underlying strength of the project comes from its mentors,
who are recruited from local targeted communities.

Mentors raise awareness and build trust at all levels of
local communities – through meeting families, talking
to community leaders and presentations at mosques.

Recruitment is directly from the community rather
than through traditional advertisements in Jobcentres
or newspapers.

The scheme is funded by Access and eight other
organisations, including the Learning and Skills
Council, the European Social Fund and the
Construction Industry Training Board. More than 50 local employers are involved.

Accent has hit or exceeded all its targets.  In the past two years, 1000 trainees have gone through the Youthbuild project alone, with 83% achieving qualifications.

The judges applauded the way mentors worked
to reach the often hardest to reach – young women