Skills and Employment
Okehampton Works

Okehampton Works was set up following major employer closures in 2011, leading to difficulties in the Okehampton area. A set of proposals were drawn up in consultation with the local community, to give support to the town. Partners, including training providers, came together as a response to opportunities created by the redundancies. The Okehampton Works Partnership continues to work together and offers a link to information, training, delivery and other business support and advice agencies.
Seeking Work: Information for Residents of Okehampton & surrounding areas
DCC working together with the Okehampton Works Partnership were successful in securing nearly £10,000 worth of funding from the Flexible Support Fund from Jobcenter Plus to deliver support within the Okehampton travel to work area under three headings:
Local Resource Hubs
To support local community groups raising awareness of employment and skills support through the creation of:
- local resource information (signposting & seeking work packs)
- web based material
- channelling information through a network of ‘community contacts’, especially in villages surrounding Okehampton (initial this will be specifically the Parish Councils);
Capacity building
- Through seminars from front line staff
- Information packs produced for 100 front line professionals in health, police, local authorities, businesses and the local resource hubs;
Evidence for future projects
- collate data and ‘soft’ information to complement statistics held by local authorities and government
- add value to existing economic data to enable a clearer projection of supply and demand for labour and skills over the next five years
- Understand & break down the real barriers to employment faced by local people.
As part of this work a ‘Seeking Work in Okehampton & surrounding areas’ information pack was produced. This holds key information and contact details for a variety of organisations who can provide advice and guidance to those who are facing redundancy and seeking work.
This pack can be found below:
Seeking Work: Information for Residents of Okehampton & surrounding areas
(341KB - pdf help)
Guide to construction agencies in the South West
(12KB - pdf help)
Guide to employment agencies
(41KB - pdf help)
