Tús Work Placement Initiative

TÚS – Community Work Placement Initiative

What is Tús?
Tús is a community work placement initiative providing quality, short-term, suitable work opportunities for people who are unemployed, while at the same time carrying out a broad range of services of  benefit to the community and in a variety of community settings. The TÚS initiative is managed by Laois Partnership for the Department of Social Protection, which has overall responsibility for the scheme.

Aims of Tús

Tús aims to provide quality work placements for participants as a valuable route for gaining or updating their experience of the workplace, learning new skills and returning to the routine of work.
The main objectives of work placements are to:
➜ Improve the employability and work readiness of
participants by providing them with opportunities to put
work skills into practice and to learn new ones
➜ Boost the participants’ motivation and confidence
➜ Provide participants with a recent work reference at the end of the placement.
➜ Provide prospective employers with evidence that a participant has the necessary skills and abilities to do the job
➜ Engage participants in activities that match their own skills, experience and goals
➜ Enable the movement of participants into sustained work, education or skill development opportunities

Eligible Organisations
To be eligible to become a Tús Placement Provider organisations must:

➜ Be community, voluntary and not-for-profit in nature;
➜ Have a recognised informal or formal/legal structure, i.e.parish/community committee, a company limited by guarantee, not-for-profit co-operative or friendly society (where profits or surpluses are not distributed to members), registered charity, trade, sporting, cultural or other associations;
➜ Demonstrate a track record of working with or providing services to and within their communities; and
➜ Demonstrate a capability of managing the candidate in the placement with the supervisory support of Southside Partnership. Individuals, private or public bodies, schools, colleges and commercial entities (for-profit bodies or organisations) are not eligible to participate.

All of the work undertaken while participating on Tús will be beneficial to the local community and the types of projects carried out are likely to include:

  • Energy conservation work in homes and community buildings
  • Social care of all age groups and people with disabilities
  • Caretaking, securing, supervising of community buildings and spaces
  • Renovation of community and sporting facilities, including the regeneration and enhancement of community, recreation and sporting spaces
  • Work in support of cultural and heritage activities
  • Community administration and community event management
  • Coaching for sporting activities
  • Repair of equipment for developing countries – Farm Tools, bicycles, computers, sewing machines, health equipment etc. 

Participant eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible for the scheme, you must meet the following participant eligibility criteria. Please note that participants are identified by the Department of Social Protection.

  • Be continuously unemployed for at least 12 months and “signing” on a full-time basis
  • Be in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance from the Department of Social Protection for at least 12 months
  • Be currently in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance at the time of Selection for Tús

The Department of Social Protection randomly selects persons on the Live Register who satisfy the criteria for Tús and offers them the opportunity to be considered for local employment on the programme as opportunities arise. That means that people cannot put themselves forward for selection as a participant

Participants on the scheme work 19.5 hours per week and are contracted to work for one year.

Laois Partnership has been delivering Tús since 2011 and currently employs??/ participants, working with ??? community and voluntary groups throughout the company’s central catchment area

For further information on Tús please contact Laois Partnership

Tús Community Work Placement Initiative – Download Expression of Interest Form

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