The Chamber

On Thursday 19 June, Digital Inclusion Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies MP will visit two leading digital inclusion projects in Liverpool and St Helens. The so-called “digital divide” is increasingly seen as a major barrier to personal, community and regional economic well-being in the UK, which is the least skilled workforce in the EU. Mr Irranca-Davies’ visit will include:

• The AIMES Community Grid project. Acknowledged as a leader in its field, AIMES is leading the Digital Inclusion & Enterprise Programme (DIEP), established as a result of the Government’s 2007 “Digital Challenge”. Mr Irranca-Davies will visit St Cuthbert’s Catholic Community College for Business & Enterprise in St Helens where pupils and parents have been using the managed computing service provided by the Community Grid project since May 2007. As part of the wider DIEP, strategically supported by the GMDDA, AIMES will provide access for around 5,000 homes in the Greater Merseyside region via the Community Grid system over a 2 year period from May 2008.

• The EverybodyOnline Liverpool 8 project is another highly successful digital inclusion initiative focusing on internet and digital technology support for parents. It includes use of the internet, and day-to-day skills such as shopping and banking online, and email. Mr Irranca-Davies will visit a PACT (Parents & Children Together) session at South Liverpool Personnel in Liverpool to speak to users direct.

Mr Irranca-Davies’ visit underlines the importance placed on the Digital Inclusion agenda at Parliamentary level, as Professor Dennis Kehoe, Director of AIMES, explains: “Digital inclusion is a crucial enabler of economic regeneration and growth. Internet access can transform cities and communities, providing improved access to employment, education and health information. The internet can also help to combat isolation and increase a sense of community. We’re delighted to be able to demonstrate our digital inclusion work to Mr Irranca-Davies in person.”

The AIMES digital inclusion project provides a fully managed internet access service to users, a key element in its success and sustainability. AIMES and its technology partner, e-communications specialist OciusB2, provide broadband internet access, a range of software packages, all equipment required, plus training and support to users of the Community Grid. The first 125 homes are now live and for the first 12 months, the service is provided free of charge.

More information here.

Merchant Taylors’ Schools For boys and girls aged 4-11

Discover the best education for life with the North West’s leading independent infant and junior schools.

We look forward to welcoming prospective families to our open morning on Saturday 7 June from 10am to 12 noon.

For more information contact:

Mrs Langham for Stanfield Mixed Infants’ and Junior Girls’ School Admissions: 0151 924 1506

Mrs Saffer for the Junior Boys’ School Admissions: 0151 949 9333

The Best Education For Life
Senior Boys | Senior Girls | Junior Boys |
Stanfield Mixed Infants & Junior Girls
www.merchanttaylors.com

Wirral TV, the new online community-focused website is now up and running.

Launched from a unique partnership of Community Trusts the new social enterprise has big ambitions to serve the information needs in the form of short films of the entire population of the Wirral. The new website Wirraltv.net has a broad ‘church’ of content from social and community issues such as dog fouling to ASBO’s to lighter content such as film festivals, music festivals, sport and horoscopes. There will be a short film for everyone no matter what age you are, gender or ethnicity.

Check out Wirral TV here.

Sponsorship opportunities are also available for local companies.

Let Liverpool University find the ‘next big thing’ for your business.  Take part in their first ever SME Milkround:

‘The Milkround’ is the name popularly given to the universities’ annual graduate recruitment programme. National employers from a wide range of industrial and commercial sectors visit universities to recruit graduates who have applied for their opportunities through the Careers Service.

We recognise that for many SMEs, recruiting a graduate puts an additional strain on the business, in terms of staff time, resources and money that isn’t always readily available.

So this is where we can support you in your search to identify suitable quality candidates.

The University of Liverpool’s Careers and Employability Service in partnership with the Next Big Thing and npower have secured European Social Funding to support SMEs on Merseyside who want to recruit graduates by providing a free recruitment support service.

This initiative would involve the Careers & Employability Service carrying out the following functions on your behalf:

• Profiling your vacancies at our forthcoming Graduate Recruitment Event being held at St George’s Hall, Lime Street, Liverpool on Tuesday 20th May 2008 - circa 2000 graduates attending
• Advertising your vacancy in the lead up to the above event on our vacancy website and virtual fair website
• Collating suitable CVs from those students/graduates interested in being considered for your vacancy
• Arranging your interviews
• Providing you with the suitable facilities here within the Careers & Employability Service to conduct your interviews
• Providing unsuccessful candidates with feedback on your behalf

So all you need to do is concentrate on conducting your interviews.

So what are you waiting for?

To take advantage of this initiative or to find out more, contact Paul Cullinan or Stefan Melgaard, at the University of Liverpool

Tel: 0151 794 5847/5112
Email: pcull@liv.ac.uk or stefan.melgaard@liv.ac.uk
University Talent Team, Careers & Employability Service, University of Liverpool, Student Services Centre, 150 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L69 3GD

Liverpool Chamber’s training arm, Trident Training Ltd, is offering NVQ Level Four qualifications, equivalent to a degree level qualification, in Management. The training is subsidised by the Chamber through the Learning & Skills Council, meaning that you or members of your staff can take this qualification for as little as £649.

For more information regarding the qualification please contact the Workforce Development Manager Simon Chadwick on 0151 236 5481

 When supplying goods or services, contracts will only be awarded to contractors who can satisfy the client’s requirements in terms of resources required and their health and safety competence. You must prove compliance with basic health and safety law and you must also be able to demonstrate to contractors that you adequately manage health and safety. 

This event is designed to ensure that your business is able to meet these vital procurement requirements You can attend this event free of charge if you have been in business less that three years and if you live in the Merseyside area and have registered for the Tender Opportunities Programme. This project is funded by the European Social Fund.               

This will be an informative and invaluable information session for you to find out more about what you should do to ensure that you are Health & Safety compliant. It takes place on Wednesday 2 April between 11.45am - 14.45pm including registration, lunch & networking. In the Council Chamber Council Room, No 1 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9HG To book your place, request a registration form from June Davies on 0151 227 1234.

CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution), Europe’s biggest alternative dispute resolution body, has spent over 15 years helping UK business cut the cost of conflict within the legal system. Recent CEDR research reveals that:

• British business conflict costs £33 billion a year
• In a dispute of a million pounds in value, a company will consume an average of over 3 years of managers’ time trying to sort it out
• 80 percent of disputes have a significant impact on the smooth running of business
• Many managers do not feel comfortable addressing conflict. Half (49%) would rather attend an event at which they knew no one than tell a client a home truth, and over two thirds (69%) would rather send back a bottle of wine in a restaurant than confront a boss’s underperformance directly.  

CEDR is holding a mediation theatre in Liverpool on 27 February to demonstrate how mediation can assist business professionals to manage conflicts and disputes cost-effectively and at the earliest opportunity, often preserving business relationships and reputation.

It will demonstrate what to expect at a mediation, how a mediator can add a valuable dimension to your negotiations, especially those in deadlock, and can assist you to maintain ongoing relationships. The theatre will involve a live mediation centred around a commercial dispute.

 The event is kindly hosted by law firm, Brabners Chaffe Street, at their new offices at Horton House, Exchange Flags, Liverpool L2 3YL, on February 27 2008, 5.30-7.00pm (registration from 5.00pm).For more information or to book a place (£35 plus VAT), please contact Faith Hardman on +44 (0)20 7536 6023 or fhardman@cedr.com.

The Government has identified that there are hundreds of 16-18yr olds across Merseyside currently in employment without qualifications.

Do you currently have staff in this age group who would benefit from training and achieving a recognised qualification?

Are you aware that training is 100% fully funded and can be tailored to meet the needs of your organisation?

• Trident Training Ltd (the training arm of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and Industry) offer Apprenticeships in Business Administration, Retail, Customer Service, ICT and Accountancy.
• Apprenticeships are available for your existing staff aged 16-18 with limited opportunities for those aged 19-24.
• Designed to develop job related skills whilst providing relevant key skills to those with little experience in the workplace.
• Apprenticeships are 100% fully funded and paper free (e-portfolio)
• They can increase the young persons confidence and motivation whilst building on their literacy and numeracy skills
• All Apprenticeships are tailored to meet the needs of  your organisation and those of the  individual
• As an employer by becoming involved in Apprenticeships you’re showing your commitment to quality, investment in people and by investing in training it has been shown to help reduce staff turnover.

Benefits to the Learner:

• Gain a nationally recognised qualification
• Quality training specific to job role
• Build on Literacy and Numeracy skills
• Increase confidence and motivation
• Enable learner to achieve their goals

Benefits to Employer:

• Higher skilled staff
• Quality training tailored to meet the needs of your business
• Increased staff retention
• Work-based, integrating training into the day to day activities relating to the individuals job role
• e-portfolio – on line training that allows the learner access to their portfolio 24 hours per day from work or home, reduces the amount of paper used, cuts out bulky portfolios and it’s environmentally friendly!

For further details please contact the Recruitment team on 0151 236 3222 or e-mail adele.maddox@liverpoolchamber.org.uk

All new courses starting Feb 2008

Enhance your professional development with one of these short courses in the following technologies: Microsoft.NET; Java.

Registration event: Wed 30th January 2008, 5pm – 7pm,
Room 705 James Parsons Building
Byrom St
Liverpool
L3 3AF

Courses begin: Week commencing 4th February 2008 (10 weeks)
Location: Byrom St Campus
Fee: £230.40* per 12 credit module (* fee for UK/EU residents only)

Each course runs one evening per week 6pm-9pm, the following courses are available:

• Programming in Visual Basic.NET (Monday)
• Introductory Programming in C#.NET (Tuesday)
• Web/E-Commerce in ASP/ADO.NET  (Wednesday)
• Database Development using SQL Server (Thursday)

Registered students on CPD courses have home access to all MSDN Academic Alliance software packages which means FREE access to software such as Visual Studio, Windows Server 2003, SQL Server and many more development tools!

To register please bring with you proof of identity (passport, driving licence, birth certificate), a passport size photograph and payment for the module.  Please note places are allocated on a first come first served basis.

Further details about all of our Professional Development courses can be found at: http://www.cms.livjm.ac.uk/courses/cpd/index.htm

General enquiries:

Lucy Wilson/Debbie Parker
Admissions and Information Officer
School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences
Liverpool John Moores University
James Parsons Building
Byrom St, Liverpool L3 3AF
Tel: 0151 231 2267
Fax: 0151 207 4594
Email: cms-admissions@ljmu.ac.uk

We also offer a portfolio of training courses tailored to suit the needs of individuals and/or organisations that require flexible on demand delivery.  Training courses are delivered in short blocks between one and five days.  For more information regarding these courses visit:
http://www.cms.livjm.ac.uk/enterprise/training.html or email cms-enterprise@livjmu.ac.uk
(Please note that these courses are not subject to the registration event advertised above)