Heather (Jessop) confirmed they are looking at holding bids for projects as can’t recruit. There was a call for more robust training plans and systems if we need to home grow paid staff, we need better ways to do this.

There was a call for shorter training to get people up to speed quickly. Nick (Morgan) is working on a new programme and online supervision to make it easier to get people to fit jobs. They are also opening up to wider requirements for info and advice giving – which has resulted in attracting people from NGOs for instance.

Paul ( Hardy) has changed tack and looked to grab people with customer service from hospitality for instance. They have had good results from this approach. Easier to teach subjects than people skills.

Zoe ( Bradley) has had zero success on recruiting for a trainer.

Noted that HtC training is very good and reflects benefits specialism so a useful tool for basic training. We agreed that it is bonkers for us all to be working locally on trainign at the same time and we could help each other better by working across regions etc.

Andy shared his recruitment and retention strategy.. thanks Andy – here it is