Think Smart
Information for Employers and for Workplace Learners
We are delighted that you are interested in one of our training courses. This course is eligible for an employer subsidy from the European Social Fund through a partnership project led by Learning South West and including ViSTA.
The ESF project is entitled “Think Smart” and is a scheme aimed at small and medium sized employers in the commercial or voluntary sector (that is to say, organisations who employ less than 249 employees).
The purpose of the scheme is to:
- Provide employers with practical assistance to improve the benefits to their organisation from their investment in learning and skills;
- Provide employers with access to funding to meet the costs of training fees for their employees accessing eligible, accredited, learning;
- Provide employers with in-house training to develop a nominated member of their staff to train as a work place learning champion through completion of a coaching qualification – someone who is able to encourage and coach colleagues during their study;
- Provide employees with support, encouragement and assistance to embark on programmes of study which lead to recognised accredited qualifications.
ViSTA is committed to the ethos of the Think Smart project. We recognise that where an employer actively supports their employees during study, the learners are much more likely to achieve the learning aims within the qualification. As a result of this the employer benefits from a more skilled and competent workforce, which ultimately brings competitive advantages for the organisation and supports the organisation’s ability to meet the needs of its service users.
In order to access the support and funding available through the Think Smart project, both the employer and the employee (learner) are required to complete some enrolment forms and project documents. ViSTA’s staff will provide a great deal of support and assistance to you throughout your engagement with the project should you agree to join.
We will offer you a training needs analysis service, where we can work with you to identify the training needs of your organisation, and we will then provide information and guidance to help you access suitable courses.
We hope to be able to use the opportunity presented by the Think Smart project to fund a number of really exciting courses in Somerset over the next 18 months.
We hope that you will choose to engage in the programme and take advantage of the financial assistance available to your organisation.
Company no 6074763 , Registered Charity no 1119172, Telephone: 08453 580372