Member Article

AGENT ACADEMY AND THE EXTRAORDINARY CLUB PARTNER WITH FACEBOOOK TO DELIVER DIGITAL SKILLS TRAINING IN THE NORTH WEST

North West-based Agent Academy and The Extraordinary Club have been selected by Freeformers and Facebook to deliver certified digital skills training in the North West of England as part of the platform’s Community Boost programme, which aims to equip more people in Europe with the digital skills they need to compete in today’s workplace.

The training focuses on enabling people to develop confidence and skills for future employment in a digital economy – especially those found to be lacking in the current workforce – with students at The City of Liverpool College being the first cohort to take part.

As part of the programme, Facebook is partnering with Freeformers to offer training to 75,000 people across the EU in UK, France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain. All training will be individually tailored - from someone with strong digital skills learning about design-thinking to someone who wants to gain employment learning how to improve their online presence.

The programme is aimed at people between the ages of 18 and 30 who want to improve existing skills or learn new digital skills to help them succeed professionally, personally or both. Training will cover modules including innovation, prototyping, web presence and social marketing,

The partnership was announced at the Digital Summit in Liverpool today.

Agent Academy was launched in 2014 as a solution to the issues faced by young people who find themselves without the skills they need to start careers in the creative and digital industries. To date, 85 young people from across the North West have benefited from the 12-week programme, securing full-time industry jobs as a direct result, generating more than £2 million worth of salaries.

Zoe Wallace, director of Agent Academy, said:

“The world of work is changing rapidly, and it’s vital that young people are skilled and ready for the opportunities that await them. Many young people are leaving education without the skills to hit the ground running in the digital industry leaving them unemployed or working in low skilled, unsecure jobs.

“We look forward to working alongside Facebook, with our partners at The Extraordinary Club, to deliver this incredibly important training, enabling young people to contribute to society and plug the skills gap.”

The Extraordinary Club is a company committed to inspiring creative and digital leaders of the future through skills development, business support and growth consultancy. It works with some of the North West’s most cutting edge talent and pioneers from the worlds of film, TV, games and technology.

Dawn Paine, co-founder of The Extraordinary Club, said:

“We are delighted to be rolling out Facebook’s UK digital skills training programme in the North West and specifically in Liverpool, to create more of a level playing field for our region’s young people in the digital world.”

Agent Academy and The Extraordinary Club will be responsible for delivering training across the North West, with the programme then being rolled out throughout the country. They will be hosting workshops and festivals across the North West and are inviting individuals and businesses to get involved.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Agent Academy .