Jobs and skills programmes are at the core of our legacy activity

Jobs & skills

The promise of a lasting legacy of social, physical and economic regeneration for the capital was at the heart of London's bid for the 2012 Games. The LDA is leading the way to achieving these long-term benefits with employment and skills initiatives at the core of our activity. Our aim is to reduce worklessness in the capital by 70,000 people, including 20,000 people in the five East London host boroughs.

Working with our partners, including the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and Jobcentre Plus (JCP), we are providing a number of programmes that will provide Londoners with the right skills to find employment and deliver them real benefits - not just now, but for years to come.

Personal Best

Personal Best is a groundbreaking programme that uses the excitement and prospect of volunteering in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as a way of encouraging workless and socially excluded individuals to learn new skills, engage in their communities, raise their aspirations and increase their chances of getting a job.

An initiative of the LDA and the LSC, and run in partnership with the European Skills Fund (ESC), JCP, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Mayor of London, Personal Best includes an accredited training course with a package of support to help people go on to further training and find volunteering opportunities or a job.

How do you qualify for Personal Best?

You can qualify for the Personal Best if you fall under any one of the categories below:

  • Unemployed
  • People eligible for or in receipt of incapacity benefits
  • Disabled people
  • People aged over 50
  • Ex-offenders
  • Homeless people in sheltered accommodation
  • Refugees, asylum seekers eligible to work in the UK and migrants
  • Personal Best also targets specific groups including lone parents and BAME through promotion of the programme

Further information:

Any member of the public interested in the Personal Best Programme should email personalbest@lda.gov.uk or call the LDA on 0207 593 9000.

London Employer Accord

The London Employer Accord helps employers source skilled staff and assists Londoners to find jobs through recruitment support and training. The programme promotes the availability of recruitment and training services to people not in work and opens up more opportunities to job-seekers.

Relay London Jobs

Relay London Jobs brings together agencies from across London to work alongside Jobcentre Plus to provide East Londoners with support into work and help them access 2012-related jobs. Formerly know as Job Brokerage Network, the scheme has now been widened to take in all of London.

If you are interested in finding out more about employment and skills training in the lead up to the 2012 Games call 0845 155 2012. If you are an organisation interested in joining the network, please contact Relay London Jobs via email or phone 8221 1563.

Opportunities Fund

The LDA is investing £11 million to fund 27 community-based projects under the Opportunities Fund. The aim is to reach communities with high levels of worklessness and to assist them with skills development and support into work.

It is anticipated that up to 14,000 Londoners and over 1,000 businesses will benefit as a result of the Opportunities Fund.

Other jobs and skills initiatives include:

  • An on-site Plant Training School located at Eton Manor on the Olympic Park

  • A Women into Construction Project which offers work placements and support into work to help increase the number of women recruited into the construction industry

  • The Local Employment Training Framework (LETF) which offers funding for flexible training to enable people from the five East London host boroughs to work on site and develop their skills

  • The On Your Marks programme which delivers a mix of basic skills, English for speakers of other languages, health and safety, craft skills and 'Train the Trainer' courses for people employed within the construction sector

  • Net Ambition which teaches basic construction skills to disabled clients and helps them address the barriers they face in entering the industry

  • Train to Gain, a Learning and Skills Council initiative, improves the skills of people already in work and promotes employer-led training