Training and Employment in Textiles and Heritage Skills

Public Consultation

We are seeking views and opinions on the need for training and employment services specialising in Textiles and Heritage Skills. We would hope to offer these services to anyone aged 16+ with an interest in employment or self-employment in yarn, textiles or heritage skills.

These services would be most suited to those who do not feel able to develop their skills through traditional academic routes, would be supportive of mental health or physical conditions for which adapted equipment may be necessary to learn practical skills, or where a confidence boost is needed to change career and consider self-employment.

All information provided will be confidential and we do not require names to be provided. However if you wish to be updated on potential opportunities please provide name and email address.

We will use statistics from this survey to seek funding to establish our training and employment services, names/email addresses will not be provided as part of any funding applications.

Planned services would initially be developed in Newtownards, we would then hope to develop outreach sessions at other locations across Northern Ireland and also develop online courses.

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* 1. Name

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* 2. Email Address

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* 3. Age Range

Under 18

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

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* 4. Which of the following categories best describes your employment status?

Employed, working full-time

Employed, working part-time

Not employed, looking for work

Not employed, NOT looking for work

Retired

Disabled, not able to work

Disabled, can work with adjustments

Medically retired

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* 5. Do you have any caring responsibilities for an elderly person or a person with a disability?

Yes

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* 6. If you are under 25 are you currently attending any form of education or further education?

Yes - School

Yes - Further Education

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* 7. Would you like a career in the creative industries in textiles or using heritage skills

Yes

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* 8. Would you consider self-employment?

Yes

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* 9. How would you describe your current skills?

No Experience/Limited Experience in Textiles/Heritage Crafts

Basic Skills in Textiles/Heritage Crafts

Developed Skills in Textiles/Heritage Crafts - Self Taught

Developed Skills in Textiles/Heritage Crafts - Formal Education

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* 10. Would you benefit from support to set up your own business eg marketing/branding, finance, product development

Yes

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* 11. Did Covid in anyway impact your employment status?

Yes - redundancy

Yes - reduced hours or change in terms & conditions of employment

Yes - physically affected by symptoms, unable to continue

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* 12. Would you be interested in attending sessions which would improve your potectial to be employed or self-employed in textiles/heritage craft skills?

Yes

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* 13. How many hours per week would you be able to commit to attending learning sessions?

8-12

13-20

21-30

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* 14. Would you prefer to attend online sessions or in-person sessions?

Online

In-Person

A mix of both online and in-person

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* 15. Do you have any additional support needs that would to be considered for you to take part, eg disability, mental health condition, caring responsibilities, childcare, availability of travel.

Please be as specific as possible on how this could be managed eg time of day you could attend, reduced hours of attendance, availability of weekend/evening classes, adapted equipment, access to online courses.

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* 16. Do you have any further comments about whether these services would be needed, or other suggestions about how they could be made as accessible as possible to as many as possible?

Thank you for taking the time to respond, we really appreciate your support.