Britain Works Challenge - Win 100,000 Training Vouchers

In the current economic climate and difficult employment market, continuously developing skills and expertise are vital to any person’s ability to find a job and develop their career. ICT skills, in particular, can be difficult and expensive to maintain for those who find themselves out of regular employment for any length of time.

Recognising that business needs to do all it can to help people during this recession, Microsoft has introduced its Britain Works campaign to help 500,000 people into work by 2012. Through a combination of a new national apprenticeship scheme, targeted skills and employability training and a new job matching service, Microsoft will work with its partners, NGOs and local government to deliver this ambitious target.

At the SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives) conference in Brighton today, Microsoft is launching the Britain Works Challenge to all local authorities in the UK. The Britain Works Challenge encourages councils to devise effective programmes to address unemployment and availability of digital skills in their local community.

All entrants for the Britain Works Challenge will be given a complimentary membership to the Microsoft IT Academy.

Three shortlisted winners will receive a custom-designed training programme to meet their local ICT training needs:

1st place
100,000 Essential Skills vouchers
5,000 Business Worker vouchers plus 2,500 exams
2,500 Technical Specialist vouchers plus 1,000 exams

2nd place
50,000 Essential Skills vouchers
3,000 Business Worker vouchers plus 1,500 exams
1,500 Technical Specialist vouchers plus 600 exams

3rd place
30,000 Essential Skills vouchers
2,000 Business Worker vouchers plus 1,000 exams
1,000 Technical Specialist vouchers plus 400 exams

You have until December 19th 2009 to submit your entry to win one of these valuable training programmes. Now is the time to start working on your ideas and proposal by reviewing the entry guidelines and categories at the Britain Works Challenge website. Good luck!

Posted by Ian