Resources to support your Social Value delivery

Resources to support your Social Value delivery

There is a wealth of services, initiatives, strategies and projects delivered by the Council, and beyond, to support with the delivery of Social Value in County Durham.  The listings below are organised by the Social Value TOM System™ themes.

Work

Employability Durham
If you are looking to create a new job, have an existing vacancy or could offer some work experience opportunities, then talk to us.  Employability Durham can support your organisation to recruit people who are over 25 and unemployed.

We can offer the following services tailored to your business needs:

    • Selection– getting you the right person for the job. We can pre-screen candidates, ensuring they match the skills and experience that you need.
    • Training support– we can source and provide funding toward the cost of any essential training needed by your new recruit to do the job.
    • Funding– we have a wage grant of up to £2,000 for eligible businesses.
    • In work support– we offer ongoing support to your business once your new recruit is in work.

      If you are looking to create a new job, have an existing vacancy or could offer some work experience opportunities, then talk to us. https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/25316/Employability-Durham-support-for-employers

DurhamEnable

Supported Employment for County Durham residents aged 18 years and over. DurhamEnable works 1-to-1 with jobseekers and employers, to break down the barriers to paid work faced by people with disabilities, neurodiversities, and long term health conditions
https://durhamenable.info/

DurhamLearn: Why choose us?

    • we provide high quality training and nationally recognised qualifications
    • our expert staff are professional, knowledgeable and live locally
    • we will support your business to achieve its objectives by upskilling your employees
    • we deliver bespoke training in a format to suit your business
    • we offer a range of programmes such as apprenticeships, standalone, as well as traineeships
    • we may be able to access government funding streams that could support the training and development of your employees
      https://www.durham.gov.uk/durhamlearn

DurhamWorks

DurhamWorks is a dedicated programme for young people aged 16-24 living in County Durham who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Organisations can partner with DurhamWorks to target their employment opportunities and to deliver employability skills in schools and colleges   https://durhamworks.info/

Durham Employment Connections (DEC)

DEC is a partnership between Employability Durham, Business Durham, Durham Works and regional housing associations Livin’, believe housing and Karbon Homes to generate more collaborative working across employment and skills services. The Employment Forum meets every other month at the Riverside Stadium, Chester le Street on Fridays from 10am – 12pm.
https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/durham-employment-connections/about/
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/durham-employment-connections-2340239

Apprenticeships, training and qualifications

Work with colleges in Durham to support with the provision of apprenticeships, training and qualifications:

North East LinkUp Portal

The North East LinkUp Portal aims to bring education and business closer together by providing a platform to raise and fulfil requests for career-related events and activities – https://linkedupportal.northeast-ca.gov.uk/

Armed Forces Covenant

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise from the nation that those who serve or have served, and their families, are treated fairly. It strengthens social value by supporting veterans, service members, and their families, with benefits extending to society as a whole.
What does the Armed Forces Covenant mean for businesses? – GOV.UK

Economy

Economic Partnership

The Economic Partnership provides leadership to develop and deliver the strategy for economic development and regeneration which addresses the opportunities and challenges across our County and is the voice for County Durham in regional, national and international discussions.

Organisations with representation on the Board are:

The strategic priorities of the Economic Partnership are outlined in the Inclusive Economic Strategy to set an ambition for more and better jobs in an inclusive, green economy.

You may also find it useful to engage with the North East Chamber of Commerce.

Community

The County Durham Together Partnership brings together a range of public and voluntary organisations to develop different ways of working with our communities and deliver place-based working at a local level, where needed. The County Durham Partnership (CDP) is made up of the CDP Board, CDP Forum, five thematic partnerships, Safeguarding Boards and a range of sub-groups and networks including Town and Parish Councils, Faith groups, the Armed Forces and the Voluntary and Community Sector. https://countydurhampartnership.co.uk/county-durham-together-partnership/

The key priorities for Health and  Wellbeing and Community Safety are set out in the following strategies:

Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2023-28.pdf
Safe Durham Partnership Strategy 2024-2029.pdf

County Durham Volunteering

Volunteering can help to develop you and your employees’ skills, improve quality of life, allow others to benefit from your skills and provide an opportunity for you to improve your community.  For more information about volunteering in County Durham contact Durham Community Action who provide a one-stop shop for volunteering. You can search for volunteering opportunities or organisations, learn more about volunteering, or find out about events and meetings in County Durham for volunteers at County Durham Volunteering.

View the video below to find out more about volunteering opportunities in Durham:

Social Value Community Image for Video (JPEG; 32Kb)

Point North Community Foundation

Point North is an independent grant-making foundation. They work with individuals, families and local businesses who want to make a difference in their community through donations – https://pointnorth.org.uk/

Other useful links

Planet

Climate County Durham

This website has been developed to help understand and reduce our impact on the environment and support bringing a positive change to our county. You will find lots of information around climate change, ideas and resources which you may find useful. https://climatecountydurham.org.uk/get-involved/business/

You can also help out by signing the Climate Change and Carbon Reduction pledge and Single Use Plastics pledge: https://doitonline.durham.gov.uk/service/Climate_Change_and_Carbon_Reduction_Pledge
https://www.durham.gov.uk/singleuseplastics

The Ecological Emergency Workstream provides strategic but practical guidance to support organisations and communities in County Durham to reverse the decline in our biodiversity and restore habitats and species across the county.

Members of the Ecological Emergency Workstream include representatives from: