For those with female employees.

[janey]

Are you aware of this funding stream specifically for your female staff?

 

Lantra scheme boosts women's training | Login | Horticulture Week

 

Every so often, threads are started about help with the costs for training, where to get grants and so on. I don't know the details for this scheme, but any help with financing additional training has got to be well worth looking into.

 

In case the link doesn't work, here's the text in full.

 

 

Lantra scheme boosts women's training

By Hannah Jordan Friday, 08 July 2011

 

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Lantra funding project for women's training in land-based industry is extended for another year.

 

The announcement that sector skills council Lantra is to extend its Women & Work funding project for another year has been welcomed by land-based industries.

 

It means that this year another 500 women working in a range of sectors, such as horticulture, landscaping, arboriculture and land-based engineering, will get the opportunity to develop their careers in industries in which they are woefully under-represented - in some cases as little as three per cent of the workforce are women.

 

In its first four years the Government-backed scheme has helped nearly 3,500 women in England to develop both technical skills and leadership techniques by supporting employers to help them progress though Lantra-run training courses.

 

Now in its fifth and final year, the £375,000 funding pot has been made available to women in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well.

 

To be eligible for grants employers must commit to spending a minimum of £650 on training a female member of staff between now and the end of February 2012.

 

Project manager Lyndsay Bird said investing in women within the land-based industries was vital for the future of the sectors involved.

 

"These opportunities will result in better retention at a time when we need to be attracting new people and skills and keeping the people we have," he said.

 

"It will also show employer investment and create greater employee continuity, stability and profitability because every time you change a member of staff it costs money," added Bird.

 

He said the initiative addressed a long-term problem in the land-based industry. "Women have simply not been invested in so they don't progress in technical or managerial skills. But it is changing now and this programme has made an incredible difference," he explained.

 

However, Bird conceded that more needed to be done: "Five-hundred places is not a lot really in the grand scheme of things and the funding is going down all the time."

 

Meanwhile, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) this week celebrated its Women into Construction scheme, which has seen the placement of more than 260 women into manual roles in the Olympic Park and almost 600 women receiving individual mentoring.

 

 

ODA head of equality, inclusion, employment and skills Loraine Martins said: "This project shows that women can be attracted, trained and recruited into construction careers."

 

FIGURES BY SECTOR

Female representation by sector:

 

Landscaping/sports turf: 17%

Trees and timber: 3%

Production horticulture: 38%

Source: Lantra 2010/11

[bob]

Sad o see that trees and timber are the lowest:confused1:

Lyndsay could not have had a more apt surname:thumbup:

 

Lets hope word gets out

cheers

[TKF]

It's FAB to see that this has been raised in a forum !! I am female and do work in the industry myself but I don't hang from trees or use chainsaws. More office based Still I do see a few women pass through our doors and all of them are up there with the blokes!

Edited July 11, 2011 by TKF

[blazer]

It's FAB to see that this has been raised in a forum !! I am female and do work in the industry myself but I don't hang from trees or use chainsaws. More office based Still I do see a few women pass through our doors and all of them are up there with the blokes!

 

Yes but you are taking 'Yorkshire lassies' TKF My daughter moved up to Hebden Bridge - she needed a tougher place to do her 'Iron-man' training.

She got a job on a building site where the men listened to Radio 1 and drank coffee - as a challenge she got them to listen to the afternoon play on Radio 4 whilst drinking Earl Grey tea - she did it:thumbup:

[janey]

Sad o see that trees and timber are the lowest:confused1:

 

I'm really surprised by the stat's on the number of women in our industry. I knew that the numbers were low in comparison to the amount of men, but only 3%? I know, and know of, plenty of women arborists, TOs and Consultants, plus a fair few more involved in Planning and Landscaping. Perhaps that's because of my location? It must be you lot oop Norf that are skewing the numbers

[sasha.p]

Oh Im glad i just read your thread Janey its looks like they have changed it then as last year it was only available in england!! im going to look into it now im aiming at finding work around sept when my kids go full time school i have been messing about trying to get funding from all directions towards cs30&31 so far with no luck and it seems there is not much my way of employment either for somebody starting out but i have from now until then to get the feelers out and get my tickets and get a placement with somebody

[Ginja]

I got this funding last year and I'm able to apply again this year, it really is a great help, I wouldn't be able to do the training as I couldn't afford the time off and the training costs otherwise. brilliant for us ladies, but a bit of a slap for the chaps! :-S

[Pat Ferrett]

I had a feeling that this thread was going to be about the She wee when I read the title