High quality training is key to success
29 March 2007
The Permanent Secretary of the Department for Employment and Learning, Aideen McGinley, today officially opened the rebuilt Workforce Training Services.
Located on the Springfield Road, Workforce has a long history of providing vocational training to young people and adults across Belfast. The new £2million training workshops accommodate training in construction trades, motor vehicle, care professions, catering, retail and business administration for over 450 people.
Mrs McGinley praised the contribution that training organisations such as Workforce make to the Skills Agenda launched last year by the Department and added: “The pursuit of high quality provision across the training sector in Northern Ireland is a top priority for the Department. Workforce has a vital role to play in servicing the training needs of local industry and this new training centre will enhance its ability to be a driver for skills excellence and economic development for many years to come.
“Organisations such as Workforce are pivotal in the delivery of the Welfare Reform Programme and in particular in engaging with socially disadvantaged and marginalised young people and adults.”
Chairman of Workforce Training Services, Michael Westland added: “This new training facility will enable Workforce to deliver a range of training programmes to the same high standards that have become the hallmark of the company over the past 30 years.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. Workforce Training Services Ltd. was established in 1978, originally under the name of Clowney Youth Training Programme to provide training for young people in West Belfast. Workforce Training Services was adopted in 1990 following an amalgamation of Clowney and Fallswater Youth Training Programmes.
2. Workforce Training Services currently has in excess of 450 trainees on its training programmes.
3. Media enquiries to the Department for Employment and Learning Press Office on 028 9025 7492.