Gate Training

Developing a unique and valuable training programme for a young offenders' charity

Gate Training is a Cardiff-based charity working with young people in schools and young offenders in prisons in South Wales. Gate Training is committed to helping young people and adults develop their innate skills in communication, self confidence, teamwork and goal setting within a supportive atmosphere. Gate Training receives funding from a range of sources, including the European Social Fund.

Opportunity

True North was asked to design and develop a training programme of the highest commercial quality that they could call their own, and which would provide business credibility for funding applications. The secondary consideration, which emerged a little later, was the development of three internal coaches (tutors) to run the programme more widely in the region.

Action taken by True North

True North provided a tiered approach to the work, beginning with programme design and delivery in the first instance, with a natural progression to tutor development. The project was cemented with personal coaching for each tutor. Ruth Nelmes, project manager at Gate Training: “Your ethical business standards were critical to our very positive experience. We feel it is something that we can’t have guaranteed with any other company. We felt all along that True North was a safe and honourable option, regardless of who we dealt with in the company.”

Results

“The only way I can describe it is as a partnership, incredibly supportive and inspiring. You were imparting your experience in the real business world, not as if we were on a shoestring and having to pick up and glean bits here and there. True North was always professional but supportive and inspiring," said Ruth Nelmes. "We had a gradual growth in confidence and ability to get to the point of being able to run a programme on our own. Our growth was sustained, through us coming to your internal development days, and through the structured approach to our development. We now have consistency of standards wherever we produce the programme. We know that we can vary our approach to suit the needs of the group we are working with. We have a foundational underpinning to what we do, wherever we do it. You gave us a ‘methodology of training’ and how to go about it, as well as a product.”

Outsiders can see the benefits too. A community leader who attended a Final Session at one of the prisons stood up after he had heard everything, and asked Ruth “Where did you get your staff from? They are so inspiring; I want to know where to get people like that.”