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Stephen Tindall - Source: ONE News -
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A $1 million pledge made by Stephen Tindall at the jobs summit has been exceeded through support for new training and employment initiatives.
The projects represent a commitment of over $1.7 million by the Tindall Foundation over the past nine months to jobs summit-related projects.
A small group convened by the foundation after the government's jobs summit was tasked with looking for opportunities to improve long-term employment prospects for communities most vulnerable to job losses in an economic downturn.
The group has been working with key stakeholders to scope and develop opportunities, primarily in the healthcare and training sectors.
Counties Manukau District Health Board is facing staffing shortages and misalignment between its workforce and the people it serves and a project in that region aims to help people obtain jobs in healthcare and related occupations.
"The staffing issues we face are business-critical,'' says chief executive Geraint Martin. "It is no longer acceptable or possible to fill positions primarily from overseas sources. We simply must invest in people in South Auckland to help create a more effective pipeline to get them to work for us."
The Tindall Foundation will provide up to $1 million by trustees to a coalition of community organisations, schools, scholarships providers, tertiary institutions and the District Health Board.
Over the next two years, the $1 million investment will put more than 200 new nurses, midwives and allied health professionals into a training pipeline to become health workers in South Auckland.
Another programme aims to improve educational opportunities for Pacific people. The trust will increase the skill levels and employment prospects of Pacific people, particularly those with no or limited qualifications.
It will improve access for Pacific islanders into education and training programmes at the foundational level in by reducing obstacles that often limit and undermine participation.
Other projects approved for the Tindall Foundation include $77,000 for cycleway development; $10,000 for Te Whanau Putahi (Hamilton) to support long term unemployed into work and $5000 for the Mayors' Task Force for Jobs to evaluate apprentice support schemes.
Tindall says he is pleased his Jobs Summit pledge has borne fruit in such positive ways.
"I have been enormously impressed with the innovative and creative thinking that has come from members of the group we convened and the many dedicated people we have worked with on these projects,'' he said.
