Derby City Council’s new Skills Centre at Friar Gate Studios has been launched. The vibrant new facility is designed to empower young people and families living with special educational needs and disability (SEND) to live their best life, through skills, training, improved confidence and independence, and social community.

Learners, families and service providers gathered in the Glow & Grow Café, as hospitality students on supported internships served refreshments, chatting with attendees about the skills and experiences they’re gaining on their courses. Students shared that they’d been learning about travel training, health needs, personal safety and keeping uniforms clean - all essential skills for independent living and work. 

David Hook, Managing Director of Cosy Direct, also gave a short presentation on the importance of supported internships, and the reasons his company had chosen to get involved with the Skills Centre’s programmes employing people with additional needs. He highlighted the ways that thinking differently and making small adjustments can give a young person the opportunity of a lifetime. 

Other employers including Severn Trent, ASDA, Rolls-Royce, NHS providers, and Derby Museums have also worked with the Skills Centre to create supported internships, showing a real openness to thinking differently about recruitment.

Friar Gate Studios Skills Centre was created after consultation with members of the Derby SEND Voice parent carer forum and over 100 young SEND ambassadors, ensuring that they’re provided with a space truly tailored to their needs and wishes. It forms part of the Council’s £24million capital investment programme, designed to strengthen Derby’s SEND opportunities and education provision.

The skills embedded in the work programmes have been designed and developed in response to the skills needs of employers and students alike, and mean that learners can then take these attributes out into the wider world. This focus is supporting young people’s transition into work, helping them to thrive within their local community.

Learner Georgia, aged 19, has been at the centre since September. She said: 

It's been really good here because I was struggling with my confidence and self-esteem but I'm a lot more confident now.

You get to do a lot of different things and I enjoy working in the cafe. I'm interested in getting a job in the area of catering. I love making cakes and cooking makes me feel like I'm doing something good for people.

Services on offer at Friar Gate Studios & Skills Centre include:

  • Shaw Education Trust and St Martin’s School’s Horizons 6th form centre – providing programmes for 16-18 year olds, focussed on pathways to supported internships, further learning or employment
  • Derby City Council’s Transition2 - post-18 Vocational and Preparing for Adulthood learning programmes, including a variety of supported internships
  • Glow & Grow – a student-operated training café, open to the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10am – 2pm (and Fridays from January). 
  • BeConnected – regular group sessions on wellbeing, movement, and social connection, aimed at encouraging friendships and confidence
  • Derby SEND Voice - offering advocacy, learning opportunities and peer-to-peer support for local families with SEND children/young people
  • Derby City Council’s Employability Hub – help with navigating education, employment, and training options. Includes the presence of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), giving access to employment and benefits advice
  • Health Space - providing wellbeing advice from the NHS and multi-agency professionals
  • Travel Training Hub - managed by Derby City Council’s Transition2, developing the confidence and practical skills to travel independently.

Councillor Nadine Peatfield, Leader of Derby City Council and Cabinet Member for City Centre, Regeneration, Strategy and Policy, attended the opening:

This is such a brilliant new destination for our learners. Encouraging ambition and inclusivity are central to our work with Derby’s young people, and having a place that takes a holistic approach, covering everything from learning and skills to health and community, is a real triumph. 

We know, through listening to young people, that being able to work and travel independently is hugely important for their confidence and wellbeing, and the experiences they’re gaining through the Skills Centre are reinforcing this.

The combination of education, training, and in-house work experience are a great way for young people to find their way into employment, embarking on the next exciting phase of their lives.

To find out more about the opportunities available at Friar Gate Studios Skills Centre, visit the Transition2 website.