At Skillshub Cumbria, we work with hundreds of employers across the county to ensure that their needs are met through a range of courses across a wide variety of industries.

We are dedicated to putting employers at the heart of what we offer, and this has been demonstrated through the development of courses and qualifications that have been requested by, and tailored to, companies across Cumbria.

That also extends to a range of short courses which deliver professional knowledge and skills for your workforce, including:

• APM Project Management Qualification
• Bench/pedestal grinders (including portable)
• Certificate in Leadership and Management (Level 3/5)
• Design and verification of electrical installations
• Electrical inspection and testing
• Electrical vehicle charging
• Essential Digital Skills Qualification
• Food safety (Level 2)
• Gas cylinders
• Hand tools and torque wrenches
• Jib cranes
• Ladder safety and inspection
• PAT testing and maintenance
• Portable grinders
• Slinging and lifting
• Telemotive/pendant cranes
• 18th edition of the IET Wiring Regulations
• Excel skills

A programme of 16-week Skills Bootcamps have been launched to help you gain the in-demand skills employers are looking for and fast-track to a job interview.

The bootcamps are part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, helping everyone to gain skills for life.

Lakes College has launched Level 3 bootcamps in welding, computer aided design, cyber essentials and robotics, and a Level 2 bootcamp in construction trades (joinery and brickwork).

A new Skills Bootcamp has also launched from January 2023 to deliver plant training in the construction industry.

Employers can access the training to build sector-specific skills in your workforce.

One example of how we strive to fill gaps in the market is the Level 3 Water Treatment Technician standard course with an apprenticeship option, designed by Lakes College following a request from a local employer who was unable to find anything like it in the county.

Chris Fairclough, the college’s curriculum operations leader for Higher Engineering, Science and Nuclear, said: “Within two weeks of the initial meeting with the employer, we had identified the apprenticeship and the associated curriculum that would be required.

“We now currently have six apprentices on the Water Treatment Technician apprenticeship, with three of these being school leavers from the local population.

“They now have a fantastic opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and behaviours in the specific areas required by their employer.”