Hi people

As a few of you know I'm training to be a plumber. Apparently, thanks to the media, it's pretty much common knowledge now that there's a shortage of plumbers about these days but I can't seem to find anywhere that will offer funding or appranticeships for anyone over the age of 25. There's only 1 that I managed to find that will fund training for people over 23!!!

The majority of places that offer apprenticeships are only interested in school-leavers or people aged 16-23 so at age 28 I'm kinda knackered.....unless anyone has seen anything on TV that might be able to help me?

I walked around town today to the benefit agencies but they can't seem to offer me anything and I just get passed from one department to the next because they can't be bothered to take a few minutes to help me out.

Ideally I'm looking for a proper apprenticeship with a decent company that can at least afford to pay me the minimum wage because I could afford low rent from that if I continue to work the hours I'm doing now Monday to Friday.

At the moment I'm working those hours for literally a quarter of the minimum wage (cash in hand) because the guy reckons he can't afford to pay me any more than that. He's a self-employed CORGI registered plumber with a wife and kid to support and another on the way so I can imagine that paying someone even the minimum wage in his position is going to quite a fair bit out of his monthly income. The experience I've gained from him has been very good so far and I've learned alot on the job but I can't survive on the money much longer and I'm going insane living with my parents. Grrrrrr!!!

Anyone heard of any government schemes or training that you think might be useful? Give a shout if you know of anything at all please. Cheers. ;)

Have you tried New Deal (http://www.newdeal.gov.uk/) Pauly?

Over 25's can qualify.

Thanks upholder, but I can only get on New Deal 25+ if I've been unemployed and claiming jobseekers allowance for 18 months. I've not been claiming anything because regardless of how little I earn, they say that I can't claim jobseekers allowance if I'm working 16 hours or over per week.

Complete b*ll***s in my opinion because by their rules if you happen to be working 16 or more hours a week for no money at all you still can't claim. They say they're trying to encourage people back to work??? All that system does is encourages people to sit on their backsides and claim £50 a week for doing nothing. :evil:

you should be able to get a career development loan which is available through the Learning + Skills Council. You pay it back gradually when qualified.

Cheers CR. I'll look into it.

In the mean time, keep it coming please people. :)

Originally posted by Pauly
Thanks upholder, but I can only get on New Deal 25+ if I've been unemployed and claiming jobseekers allowance for 18 months. I've not been claiming anything because regardless of how little I earn, they say that I can't claim jobseekers allowance if I'm working 16 hours or over per week.

Complete b*ll***s in my opinion because by their rules if you happen to be working 16 or more hours a week for no money at all you still can't claim. They say they're trying to encourage people back to work??? All that system does is encourages people to sit on their backsides and claim £50 a week for doing nothing. :evil:

I've gotta agree with you there Pauly. I spent a bit of time out of work last year, and I came across a job that was pretty good for me. Even knew the people who ran the place, and was fully qualified so I was a very likely candidate for the post.

I asked the job centre about it and they said I couldnt go for it because it was for New Deal candidates only.
I asked how I could get on New Deal, and they said i'd not been claiming Job Seekers Allowance for long enough. I needed to have been claiming for 1 year.

The stupid thing is, I'd been claiming benefits for just over a year, but 6 months of it was spent on incapacity benefit (injury), so because i'd been claiming the wrong benefit, I couldnt get on the scheme which would almost certainly have got me the job I wanted.

The people at the job centre were trying as best they could to find a way around the rules, but in the end I had to miss the opportunity. Ridiculous.
As you say, pauly: Complete b*ll***s.

Originally posted by Pauly
Cheers CR. I'll look into it.

In the mean time, keep it coming please people. :)
And when you've found out Pauly... let me know! :thumbsup:

Pauly this will sound very odd but do you have any illness such as hay fever or asthma?

I ask because my friend quit his job to train as a plumber, he is 24. When he went down to the job centre at hillsborough the woman said she could put him onto the new deal if he had any "disability" he told her the only thing he had was hay fever. She told him this was classed as a disability and would make him eligable for new deal.

He is now going for an interview to train with Kier.

It sounds crazy but it might be worth a go.

Originally posted by steelblade
the woman said she could put him onto the new deal if he had any "disability" he told her the only thing he had was hay fever. She told him this was classed as a disability and would make him eligable for new deal.

Yeah, thats exactly what they advised me to do. If I were willing to say I had a disibility I could have got on New Deal.

Give it a go...

Originally posted by steelblade
Pauly this will sound very odd but do you have any illness such as hay fever or asthma?

I ask because my friend quit his job to train as a plumber, he is 24. When he went down to the job centre at hillsborough the woman said she could put him onto the new deal if he had any "disability" he told her the only thing he had was hay fever. She told him this was classed as a disability and would make him eligable for new deal.

He is now going for an interview to train with Kier.

It sounds crazy but it might be worth a go.

Yes I do have hay fever and the asthma is a side effect when the hay fever gets really bad. Hmm, interesting matey. :)

I didn't quite believe it when I was told but it's perfectly true.

He was worried about saying he had a disability incase it went against him in any way but he was assured that nobody would know the reason he was on new deal.

He also felt a little guilty about it but he has paid thousands in taxes and will pay thousands more when he is corgi registered in a year! It would have taken him at least 2 years to do this if he had gone to college.

If I were you I'd get yourself back down to the job centre.

I'm just out of the shower and am going to get my arse down there A.S.A.F.P.!

Cheers for this mate, I'll let you know what happens. :D

Good luck!

Hope you get something sorted!

If it works out then I'll end up as a KIER clone. lol! You can't go more than a few yards without seeing one of their vans. :lol:

As far as I know the interviews are tomorrow and there are 50 people going and only 10 training places available!

My friend isn't gauranteed to get on but there will probably be more opportunities.

He doesn't want to stay with Kier but if they train him up in a years time he could go with another plumber/gas fitter.

It's just the stepping stone he needs.

This is the exact topic that I brought up in another thread ie bringing immigrants over here to fill the skills gaps is wrong.

I have a mate who was made redundant and is in his early 40's he is doing a menial low paid job and would love to be retrained to help fill a job with a skill shortage. DB came on and said well why doesn't he train then? This is why DB.

He is a married man with 3 kids, a mortgage, rabbit and dog to provide for. With no financial support to retrain he doesn't stand a hope in hell. He has contributed taxes for over 20 years as did his wife before starting a family. We should be looking after the likes of them before providing jobs for people from the other side of the globe.

Originally posted by Mo
This is the exact topic that I brought up in another thread ie bringing immigrants over here to fill the skills gaps is wrong.

I have a mate who was made redundant and is in his early 40's he is doing a menial low paid job and would love to be retrained to help fill a job with a skill shortage. DB came on and said well why doesn't he train then? This is why DB.

He is a married man with 3 kids, a mortgage, rabbit and dog to provide for. With no financial support to retrain he doesn't stand a hope in hell. He has contributed taxes for over 20 years as did his wife before starting a family. We should be looking after the likes of them before providing jobs for people from the other side of the globe.

You've spotted a flaw in the so called free market system there Mo. It's cheaper for companies, and individuals, to buy in trained people irrespective of their origin rather than train our own work force. The pendulum seems to have swung completely the other way from the days of the closed shop when you couldn't get work in certain industries unless you were a fully paid up union member.

I'm not advocating a return to those days but it just strikes me as ironic that removing workers' protection has resulted in the situation in which we find ourselves today.

Just been to the job centre and got a load of stuff from a friend of mine who works there that I just happened to bump into. At last I get SOME good luck.

I mentioned about the disability claim thing and she said that yes it was possible for me to get onto New Deal via that route. Result!

She did also say that I'd be able to get training without actually going onto New Deal because the scheme is quite rigid and if you decide you don't like it there's no way out without actually signing off. I'm not completely sure about the training without New Deal but she seemed to think I could get around it so I'll see what I can find out.

As for right now I'm going to sign on and cut my working hours down to 15 hrs a week. It's not worth working 8-5 monday to friday for the cash I get from the plumber bloke anyway so I'll try this other way for now. At least by signing on I'll put myself back into the system and should be eligible for training opportunities through the job centre.

Originally posted by Mo
This is the exact topic that I brought up in another thread ie bringing immigrants over here to fill the skills gaps is wrong.

I have a mate who was made redundant and is in his early 40's he is doing a menial low paid job and would love to be retrained to help fill a job with a skill shortage. DB came on and said well why doesn't he train then? This is why DB.

He is a married man with 3 kids, a mortgage, rabbit and dog to provide for. With no financial support to retrain he doesn't stand a hope in hell. He has contributed taxes for over 20 years as did his wife before starting a family. We should be looking after the likes of them before providing jobs for people from the other side of the globe.
I'm sorry... is that small violins playing?

I'm in the same boat Mo so dont dictate to me. If he wants to retrain and make the money he will... get a loan from the bank... train and get the good job. £600 for a home study course in plumbing (giving NVQ2 equivalent certificate). Now I'm sure that aint stretching the budget when the golas are £30k a year plus wages now is it? If he REALLY wanted to do the re-train he would. If he was made redundant then he would have been given a substantial pay off, making training affordable. Colleges do night courses, so time isn't always a factor!

Why didn't you contibue this conversation under the appropriate thread Mo? I noticed you dropped the subject sharpish.
What I was saying there was that irrespective of origin, if a migrant works and pays taxes, I have no problems with them living here. You can be as prejudice as you like to non British Citizens (that doesn't just mean non whites either mo:loopy: )

Anyway back on topic. Yes I too would like to retrian, in plumbing... I am signing up for a course one day per week at college which starts september. Cost £250 per year. Obviously I will take one day per week away from the day job, but I will make that money back by doing security work in the evening. See it's all possible. However if grants were available... or retraining loans it would be helpful to me!

Originally posted by DaBouncer
I'm sorry... is that small violins playing?

I'm in the same boat Mo so dont dictate to me. If he wants to retrain and make the money he will... get a loan from the bank... train and get the good job. £600 for a home study course in plumbing (giving NVQ2 equivalent certificate). Now I'm sure that aint stretching the budget when the golas are £30k a year plus wages now is it? If he REALLY wanted to do the re-train he would. If he was made redundant then he would have been given a substantial pay off, making training affordable. Colleges do night courses, so time isn't always a factor!

Why didn't you contibue this conversation under the appropriate thread Mo? I noticed you dropped the subject sharpish.
What I was saying there was that irrespective of origin, if a migrant works and pays taxes, I have no problems with them living here. You can be as prejudice as you like to non British Citizens (that doesn't just mean non whites either mo:loopy: )

Anyway back on topic. Yes I too would like to retrian, in plumbing... I am signing up for a course one day per week at college which starts september. Cost £250 per year. Obviously I will take one day per week away from the day job, but I will make that money back by doing security work in the evening. See it's all possible. However if grants were available... or retraining loans it would be helpful to me!

Firstly you are NOT in the same boat as my friend at all. If I remember correctly you have a working partner and no kids. That makes the world of difference as you may well find out one day.

Secondly, David (lets call him) was not given a substantial pay off as you so arrogantly suggest. He was given the legal minimum, the exact figure I do not know. He does not believe in sponging on the state so he took a crappy job well below his abilities. Perhaps he should have done as so many do and sign on without the slightist intention of taking a job.

Thirdly, I contributed under this thread because Pauly was talking about exactly the same thing as I was in the earlier thread,not that it's anything to do with you.

Fourthly, I am not anti non-British. To look after your own first, it makes perfectly good sense to me.

Firstly you are NOT in the same boat as my friend at all. If I remember correctly you have a working partner and no kids. That makes the world of difference as you may well find out one day.
Yes she is working. She IS about to be made redundant so no there is not a world of difference. And that is irrespective of what they can and cannot afford. They live to their means. As do we.
I suspect their mortage (if they have one left) is substantially smaller than ours. Again irrespective.

Secondly, David (lets call him) was not given a substantial pay off as you so arrogantly suggest. He was given the legal minimum, the exact figure I do not know. He does not believe in sponging on the state so he took a crappy job well below his abilities. Perhaps he should have done as so many do and sign on without the slightist intention of taking a job.
So 'David' was given a pay off then. Whatever the legal minimum is... I suspect iot would have been more than £600... so more than enough to pay for a home study course in plumbing
(if that's the area he wishes to pursue). Home study means he can be at home with the kids, work full time and still retrain. So your argument is still flawed Mo. Well done for not sponging off the state... thats commendible. I believe in the same thing. And can I just say I'm not saying there shouldn't be a grant/loan system for people wishing to retrain, I'm saying that someone from another country already qualified shouldn't be not allowed to work here because they were not born here.
Thirdly, I contributed under this thread because Pauly was talking about exactly the same thing as I was in the earlier thread,not that it's anything to do with you.
I'm happy for you to contribute to this thread, although you completely responded off topic. Pauly was asking if people knew of any government funding or grants avaulable for him to train, not the ethics of allowing immigrants to work in this country. He wasn't asking why we dont train our own 'citizens' before we allow migrants from other countries to work here. You took his request and linked it into another thread.... and brought my name into it. So who's really the arrogant one?

Fourthly, I am not anti non-British. To look after your own first, it makes perfectly good sense to me.
Yeah it's not nice when someone makes unjustified accusations is it? As per this quote:"DB you have read our 'own citizens' = white" from this (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?postid=77468#post77468) post!:rolleyes:

:lol: S'ok DaB, most threads get hijacked in one way or another. I found out what I needed to know thanks to steelblade. :D Cheers pal!!!

I went back to the jobcentre this afternoon and basically camped out there until a woooooonderful person (who shall remain nameless) sat down with me for about an hour and sorted it so that I'm now going to open day tomorrow with the relevant forms to try and get on this course. :D:D:D

Wish me luck. :D :banana:

RESULT!!!!!!! :banana: :banana: :banana:

I went to the open day along with 133 other people and even though there were only 24 places on the course I managed to get onto it cos I impressed them in my interview. YAAAAAAY! Course is for 27 weeks in Barnsley and I get a job at the end of it. Woo hoo!

Cheers Steelblade, you're a little starlet! :D:D:D

Congratulations Pauly :clap: :thumbsup:

Excellent news Pauly. Well done & Congratulations.

Nomme :partyhat:

Damn I'm jealous now!

Congrats though... is it with Kier and is it Plumbing?:thumbsup:

Cheers people.

Yep DaB the on-job training will be with KIER and it'll be them that I work for when I'm done.

The course is gas-fitting so I'll be servicing, maintaining and fitting boilers and central heating. I already help to fit about system per week at the moment anyway so COOL!. :D

Nice work Paul.

Do you get paid while you're training?

I'll be able to get jobseekers allowance and also get £15 a week so it's not really alot more than I'm getting now but it's better than nowt.

I also get money back on my travel expenses cos I'll be driving/getting the train to Barnsley every day for 6 weeks initially. Wish I could afford my own car. :(