A Yorkshire training organisation founded by professionals who have overcome trauma, adversity and other personal challenges has been chosen by the Department for Education to deliver a major new national training programme designed to improve careers advice for young people facing some of the biggest barriers to education and employment.

 

The Department for Education has announced that Yorkshire-based Transform Your Training will lead the design and delivery of England's new national Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme for careers advisers, following a competitive procurement process.

 

Designed by experts who have themselves overcome barriers to progression, the new national programme aims to transform careers advice for young people across England, as the Department for Education steps up its efforts to meet the Government’s Back to Work commitments.

 

Founded by Tammy Banks and Faye Fox after successful careers in York's charity sector, Transform Your Training has spent the last decade supporting local authorities, charities, schools and public services across Yorkshire. Today it is a trusted partner to City of York Council, delivering leadership development, safeguarding and domestic abuse programmes. The Department for Education's appointment builds on those Yorkshire foundations, taking an approach developed through local partnerships, lived experience and real-world practice to careers professionals across England

 

Using its award-winning Training 4 Influence methodology, Transform Your Training – which employs 20 people from its Lowther Street base, as well as working with an extended team of 100 facilitators across the country - will shape a programme that combines trauma-informed, expert facilitation with practical application, collaboration and values-led learning. Importantly, the training will be designed and delivered by facilitators with personal and/ or professional lived experience of the barriers many young people face, adding a deep level of understanding and insight that will unlock the transformative power of training.

 

The contract to deliver the programme on behalf of the Department for Education builds on the life’s work of Transform Your Training co-founder and CEO, Tammy Banks, who is leading the mission that quality, values-led training can transform lives. Tammy, who lives in the city, channels her own lived experience, passion and over 20 years’ professional experience into championing change and seeking creative ways to interrupt the generational cycle of harm and abuse. She believes the programme represents a vital opportunity to unleash the potential of hundreds of thousands of young people in England, by enabling careers advisers to better support them to recognise opportunities, overcome barriers and make informed choices about their futures.  It is expected that Transform Your Training’s contract win with the DfE will enable the company to create seven new roles.

 

Tammy said: “Careers advisers make a difference every single day, helping young people to recognise their strengths and open doors to opportunities that can shape the rest of their lives.  That impact can be amplified if – through their own professional development – we are able to support careers advisers to understand and respond to the needs of young people who face barriers – whether they’re young people in the care system or people who have experiences trauma or adversity.

 

“Every young person deserves access to high-quality careers guidance, whatever their background or circumstances.  It’s something I am hugely passionate about because of my own experience of navigating adverse experiences and significant challenge as a young person and having to advocate for myself in order to get the life chances I deserved.  Values-led quality training can drive this change for young people today; it can motivate and inspire careers advisers and connect them to the young people they serve in new ways.”

 

She added: “Training that values the people in the room, that thanks them for the work they’re doing, that teaches them the skills, models and values to really work with the people accessing their services in an equal and equitable way is vital.  It can transform lives and revolutionise our public services. I believe this CPD programme can support careers advisers to unlock the potential of generations of young people who might otherwise never be able to see past the barriers in front of them. This is a huge opportunity to do things differently and make a massive impact.”

 

Tammy’s personal history, academic achievements and work experience have driven her to champion the importance of effective solutions within organisations working with people who are marginalised or disadvantaged.  Her own childhood was impacted by harm, abuse and neglect – experiences that now fuel a deep personal desire to ‘change the system’.  It was a teacher at Inspire Education Group  – where Tammy is now a Governor – listening to her as a child seeking education, who first unlocked Tammy’s belief that she could aspire to be and achieve much more.

 

“Adults in schools and colleges have the power to change the lives of the young people they work with – whether they’re teachers or careers advisors.  That’s why I believe values-led quality training for careers advisers who work with young people day-in and day-out can transform lives and create a ripple effect across society.  I’ve seen it in my own practice – the power of sharing my experiences as part of a structured, tailored programme of training to ensure there is not only intellectual learning, but emotional learning too.  To now have the opportunity to directly impact on the delivery of careers advisers in England through Transform Your Training’s network of facilitators – each of whom will bring personal and/ or professional lived experience - feels like a milestone moment in what is a deeply personal mission for me. Our young people deserve equity of opportunity.”

 

Transform Your Training’s appointment reflects a shared ambition with DfE to strengthen the consistency and quality of careers guidance across England and ensure more young people receive guidance that helps them to build brighter futures.

 

The programme will launch in October.  Careers professionals from schools, colleges, universities and alternative provisions can access the training for free, and it will be delivered through national inspiration conferences, six continuing professional development (CPD) modules, monthly expert panels and a community of practise. 

 

To sign up for more information about the programme, visit www.transformyourtraining.org/national-careers-adviser-cpd-programme.  And to find out more about Transform Your Training and its Training 4 Influence methodology, visit https://transformyourtraining.org