Choice Hotels aims to create relationships which are beneficial to our business and the community in which we operate. We have recognised that there are important social needs within our local community and our goal is to have a positive impact by creating shared value.
As a company that has the opportunity to open doors to meaningful careers for people, we believe that education and job readiness skills are fundamental to success. We work on a range of programmes and with varied partners to help tackle unemployment and skills gaps.
DFN Project SEARCH is a one-year transition to work programme for young adults with a learning disability or autism spectrum conditions, or both. We take on supported employment internships for young people in their last year of education, helping them to take positive first steps into the world of work.
Blackpool has a rate of 210 per 10,000 children in the Local Authority's care, more than three times the national average of 67 per 10,000 with this in mind Choice Hotels have created a very close relationship with the care leaving team and developed a work placement scheme for those young adults transitioning into independent living.
We offer young adults a six week work placement and opportunity to explore three different sectors within the hospitality industry to allow them to understand what field of work they may be interested in. After the six weeks we offer all suitable candidates full time employment within the company
Choice Hotels now sit on the steering group for The Responsible Business Network which is part of the Blackpool Pride of Place Partnership. It’s a group of businesses who are committed to supporting the local community. Their priority areas for now are:
One of the key things they’re trying to do is to give all children at least one encounter with a business before they leave school. It’s been shown that having 4-5 good quality business encounters can reduce a child’s tendency to be classed as NEET by up to 85%. NEET is those who are ‘not in employment, education and training’.
Through this we offer local school’s work experience weeks for students interested in hospitality and attend regular careers fairs, interview practice and teacher support which helps teachers develop lesson plans that bring learning to life in a functional way.
We are proud to support many of our local schools, if you are interested in developing any of the above or would like support from our business please contact laurenhuckerby@choicehotels.co.uk