Academi Adra
Lead Organisation:
Adra
Area:
All areas of Gwynedd
Investment Priority:
People and Skills
What’s the background?
Adra housing association is one of Gwynedd’s largest organisations and employers, and since its inception has placed an emphasis on developing skills locally. Academi Adra was established in 2021 to support young people and the unemployed to develop skills.
What was the support?
Adra housing association is one of Gwynedd’s largest organisations and employers, and since its inception has placed an emphasis on developing skills locally. Academi Adra was established in 2021 to support young people and the unemployed to develop skills.
What difference has this made?
Individuals who have taken part in the scheme learn life skills, get a taste of the world of work and gain confidence to go on into employment. Several have also gone on to be offered an apprenticeship or a job with a local company following a period of work experience at Academi Adra. The scheme has also run a campaign to encourage young women to consider a career in the housing and construction sector.
Thanks to the Shared Prosperity Fund, we have been able to offer a lot more training and employment opportunities to the residents of Gwynedd. We are very proud of everyone who has taken part and what we have managed to achieve.
Ceri Ellis Jackson, Academi Adra Programme Leader
Some of the main reasons we started Academi Adra were to respond to the challenges facing local people – unemployment and seasonal employment, as well as a lack of experience, skills and support. Academi Adra supports people and communities to thrive by offering the opportunity to learn new skills, access jobs and gain the experience and confidence that will help them in the future.
Elin Williams, Head of Community Services at Adra
Here are some of the stories of the people who have benefited from the help of Academi Adra:
Case Study: Admin Skills
What was the support?
Daniella Williams and Hanna Ross signed up for an Admin Skills course with Academi Adra, and completed a week of training and work experience at the Adra office. Following the completion of the course, both were successful in an interview to secure a place on a paid 16-week work placement in two different departments at Adra.
What difference has this made?
Daniella has joined the team at Tŷ Gwyrddfai, Penygroes. As part of the work experience during the placement Daniella coordinated and supported Adra staff to organise events, training and meetings, and was also a receptionist, welcoming visitors to the centre.
Daniella’s work has contributed so much to the business in a very short time. We tried to offer as much variety as possible within her work experience programme that will be useful to her in future roles.
Julie Stokes-Jones, Business Manager at Tŷ Gwyrddfai
Hanna joined the Human Resources team that supports over 350 staff that work at the company.
The course has already given me so many different experiences, and I got to learn and use all sorts of admin programs within the HR team. I hope that these skills and the experiences I have had during the work placement will make me a stronger candidate for future jobs. I’m very grateful to Academi Adra for this opportunity.
Case Study: Construction
What was the support?
Trystan, Dylan and Tomos enrolled on one of the most popular Academi Adra courses – Construction. After completing the week’s training and a week of work experience, the three were successful in their interviews for a paid work placement
What difference has this made?
As Tomos has a background in plastering, his work placement was with the Adra repair team, Trwsio, on location at Trem yr Wyddfa, Penygroes. Adra is committed to developing and investing in their existing housing stock to improve the condition of their homes. Tomos gained experience in this element of the work, and at the end of his work placement he had grown as an individual, with new skills that will benefit him when looking for work or progressing to further training.
Dylan was keen to gain experience in different trades, and a programme with a wide variety of trades was organised with the Trwsio workforce. He got a taste of different aspects of construction work which helped him in thinking about the next step in his career.
Trystan is on a paid work placement for 16 weeks with Williams Homes. Williams Homes works with Academi Adra as a partner, and offers unique opportunities for local young people to learn about the latest building methods within their communities.
Trystan is part of the team working on a 10 million pound development to provide 41 affordable homes for ClwydAlyn and Grŵp Cynefin in Penrhyndeudraeth. These homes are highly energy efficient, and their buildings use green technology.
It’s great to see learners from Academi Adra going on to get a paid work placement and provide an invaluable service within our communities by being part of the delivery of new affordable housing to ClwydAlyn and Grŵp Cynefin.
Ceri Ellis-Jackson, Academi Adra Programme Leader
