Sector Skills
Sector Skill is a comprehensive initiative from The Wheel to address the training
needs of the community and voluntary sector in Ireland.
The initiave grew out of the findings of a report entitled, 'Training Solutions for the Community and Voluntary Sector in Ireland', which was commissioned by The Wheel in 2005.
You can download the original report here.
There are three main strands within the Sector Skills initiative:
- Training Links
- Online Training Information
- Stronger Leaders
Click on the headings below to learn more about Sector Skills.
One of the overarching issues within the community and voluntary sector has long been one of capacity – the ability of the sector to continue to fulfil the increasing demands that are placed on it in a changing world of increased regulation and accountability. The effectiveness of the sector is heavily dependent on it having paid and voluntary staff, including board members with the right skills to fulfil their responsibilities. In order to build the capacity of the sector, measures need to be in place to support the development of the skills of the individuals who work within it.
Many agencies and individuals from both within the community and voluntary sector as well as from other sectors have provided much of this type of support very successfully over the last number of years and many government departments finance their work. The purpose of this Sector Skills initiative is to complement and support this valuable work.
Funding for Sector Skills
The Wheel acknowledges the financial support of €1 million given by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment under the National Training Fund to develop three programmes for the Sector Skills pilot phase. The second Sector Skills cycle began in January 2008, The Wheel having received a commitment of another €1 million from the department. It is expected that the outcomes will continue to provide a clear road-map to ensure that an adequate and meaningful support infrastructure is firmly established for the Sector over the coming years.
What is the National Training Fund? Where did Sector Skills come from?
The National Training Fund was established under the National Training Fund Act, 2000, as a dedicated fund to finance a range of schemes aimed at:
- raising the skills of those in employment,
- providing training to those who wish to acquire skills for the purposes of taking up employment,
- providing information in relation to existing, or likely future, skills requirements in the economy.
The Fund is resourced by a 7% training levy on most of the country’s employees and its purpose is to support skills development in our economy.
Employees working in the community and voluntary sector also contribute to The National Training Fund through PRSI contributions made by their employers.
Sector Skills is the first training initiative outside the private sector that has been supported by the National Training Fund under the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
You can download a selection of Sector Skills project reports here.
For more information contact Elizabeth Bolger elizabeth@wheel.ie or Tel: (01) 454 8727.
The Training Links grant programme has relaunched. Read more about the 2011-2013 programme
Modelled on the approach developed by Skillnets Limited for the private sector Training Links encourages community and voluntary organisations to unite in “training networks” to identify shared training needs and to apply for a grant to address these needs. This approach offers participants significant cost efficiencies and other collective benefits.Read about the successful 2008 - 2010 Training Links networks here.
Training Links offers funding opportunities to groups of organisations that chose to come together and work collaboratively to address their shared training needs as a Training Network. The most recent Training Links programme ran from September 2008 to mid 2010.
The Training Network is subsidised by The Wheel - with funding from the National Training Fund - over the period of the programme to develop and implement strategic, innovative and cost-effective training and development solutions for its members which they would be not be in a position to undertake as effectively on their own.
In addition to the provision of substantial financial subsidies to the Training Networks directed at training provision, this programme provides much-needed opportunities for sectoral co-operation and shared learning.
The Wheel addressed this need by launching the Learningpoint.ie website in 2006. Learningpoint.ie was a user-friendly database of hundreds of training courses, encompassing a wide variety of subjects relevant to anyone working within the Irish community and voluntary sector. These courses were provided by hundreds of different training providers across Ireland, all of which registered for free on the website.
Learningpoint.ie quickly became a popular and key resource for the community and voluntary sector, thanks also in part to it's widely read monthly newsletter, The Learning Digest.
Changes to Learningpoint.ie
Learningpoint.ie was absorbed into The Wheel's new website in May 2010.
All of the free Learningpoint.ie resources are still available to the entire sector on Wheel.ie. One of the key benefits of merging Learningpoint.ie into The Wheel's new website was that now users of the site will have all of The Wheel's resources - from hundreds of training courses to related research and information - housed on a single and comprehensive website.
Visit our training section now to search for courses and/or trainers in your county.
Find out more about the Stronger Leaders Programme (PDF 466KB), with this overview and guide to the application procedure. Interested to see who participated in the programme the first time around? Click here to find out!
Developing Leadership in the Community and Voluntary Sector
The programme was developed based on research conducted by The Wheel in 2005. The programme was delivered by the Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups, which has vast experience and knowledge in the area of training and development for the community and voluntary sector.
Along with its own staff, the Carmichael Centre identified and commissioned expert training consultants who have the skills, knowledge and experience to make this innovative leadership development programme meaningful and beneficial for leaders of community and voluntary organisations.
Intended for Chief Executives, or persons in equivalent positions (e.g. Administrators, Directors, Coordinators and Managers) in community and voluntary organisations, the Stronger Leaders course is designed to offer leaders and their organisations an invaluable opportunity for growth and development.
