Octavia Foundation plan apprenticeships

Sunday, 5 February 2012

We are excited to confirm the launch of a new programme of apprenticeships later this year, to celebrate the incredible legacy of Octavia Hill (1838-1912), the charity’s namesake and founder of Octavia Housing.

Octavia Hill was the pioneer of social housing; she started managing her first three properties in Marylebone London in 1865 and by the mid 1870s she was responsible for around 3000 tenants. She believed that managing housing was as much about offering people opportunities to develop themselves as maintaining the buildings that they lived in, and provided paid or voluntary work where she could to enable the unemployed to gain skills. The Octavia Apprenticeships form part of the celebrations planned throughout 2012 by Octavia Housing and the Octavia Foundation to mark the 100th anniversary of Hill’s death, and to celebrate her legacy 100 years on.

The Octavia Foundation supports communities and individuals in west and central London, and has already helped hundreds of local people at different stages of their professional careers, many of whom have successfully secured employment, training or volunteering opportunities in a diverse range of organisations in the clerical, retail, care and the third sectors, whilst others have received support to increase their ability to be employed.

The apprenticeships, which will be launched in April of this year, will form part of the charity’s new training initiative, ‘Future Foundations’ which was launched in January 2012 and designed to appeal particularly to recent graduates and younger people aged 18-24.  The new programme is tailored to individual participants and will include one to one CV and interview advice, mentoring from experienced professionals and advice and support to help secure employment and training opportunities.

Wray Bennett, Employment Advisor explains ‘we’re particularly keen to work with recent graduates and young people aged between 18 to 24. In December 2011 the government announced that youth unemployment had hit an all time high – we’re determined to help reverse this trend in west and central London in 2012. We’re working to finalise the new apprenticeship scheme which will further support younger people to develop their skills and find employment and is expected to offer three roles within different functions of the Octavia Foundation and Octavia Housing.’

Find out more about Octavia Hill, our history and the plans for the centenary here  or by contacting centenary@octaviahousing.org.uk.

For more information on the Octavia Apprenticeships or other Future Foundations opportunities offered through the Octavia Foundation please contact Wray Bennett on 020 8564 5576 or email wray.bennett@octaviafoundation.org.uk