Community First  |  Building Bridges and Inspire Swindon Programmes

Community First, Building Bridges and Inspire Swindon logos

01380 732821

hello@buildingbridgessw.org.uk

Building Bridges Programme and Inspire Swindon

Thank you for visiting the Building Bridges Programme and Inspire Swindon website. Community First is currently in the process of developing a refreshed website for the programme.

More information about the programme

The Building Bridges programme and Inspire Swindon supports people across Swindon and Wiltshire who are facing significant challenges in being able to develop their skills, access education or move towards the world of work. Taking part in the programme is entirely voluntary and all of our advice and support is offered free of charge.

The Building Bridges Programme and Inspire Swindon offers a holistic service that provides personalised support to people with significant barriers and challenges to help them build their independence and move towards education and employment outcomes. To take part in the programme participants must have the legal right to work in the UK. Taking part in the programme is entirely voluntary and all of our advice and support is offered free of charge.

A Support Worker will work closely with each participant to ensure they have strong consistent support from joining the programme through to leaving it – they will help understand their barriers and challenges, develop and implement plans to deliver them and provide support to sustain outcomes. They will also assist participants when they engage with external services to ensure the engagement is as smooth and seamless as possible.

A personalised needs analysis, circles of support map and holistic support action plan will be developed with each participant. They will then be offered a range of one-to-one and group activities based on their individual needs as they progress through support.

We are more than happy to integrate existing support that participants have in place into their plans with Building Bridges if they would like us to.

In addition, Building Bridges will also offer:

  • Access to self-confidence building courses
  • Volunteering and work experience activities
  • Debt and benefit advice
  • Travel training
  • One to one counselling, anxiety, and mental health support
  • Access to functional skills and qualifications

Participants will be supported to develop their CVs, job search skills and interview skills and have access to support for up to three months to help them sustain their education and employment outcomes.

Please see below for more information about who is eligible for the Building Bridges programme and Inspire Swindon, along with a temporary referral form which you can use to make a referral or self-referral.

Building Bridges Programme (Wiltshire)

The Building Bridges programme will continue to support people aged 16-65 in Wiltshire who have significant barriers and challenges to move towards education and employment.

Inspire Swindon

Inspire Swindon offers personalised support to young people who live in Swindon and who are also in one (or more) of the following groups:

15-18 years old who are at risk of becoming NEET

15-18 years old who are NEET

15-18 years old who are engaging with Swindon Youth Justice Service

19-25 years old who are Care Experienced

19-25 years old with an Education, Health & Care Plan

We are in discussion with other funders to try to establish a programme in Swindon to support people aged over 18 and will give further details of this as soon as we can.

Referral form

Complete the form to make a referral for yourself or someone else.

Referral Form
Are you completing this form for someone else?
Do you have permission to refer this person to the programme?
Should we contact you before we make contact with the person you are referring?

Information about the person being referred (or self-referral) 

Do you/they have the legal right to work in the UK?
Pronoun

Additional information required for young people aged under 18

Please note we cannot progress a referral for anyone aged under 18 without the following section being completed in full.

Parent, carer or guardian’s pronoun
Has the parent, carer or guardian given consent for this referral to take place:

The information provided in this form will be used to establish whether you (or the person you are referring) is eligible for the Building Bridges programme or Inspire Swindon. The information is stored securely and will not be used for any other purpose. For more information about how we use your data, please see the Building Bridges Privacy Notice.