Skills - Third Sector kicks off a co-design process to create an innovative digital platform where charities and social enterprises can more easily find and compare training and other skills support.

In a changing financial and technological environment, charities and social enterprises are under increasing pressure to grow and develop. As a result charities and social enterprises could miss key opportunities for further growth, and potentially risk withdrawal of funding and closure.

Research has shown some of the barriers faced by social sector organisations: 51% of the social sector want to provide more training but lack funding or are unable to spare staff; and almost six in ten social sector organisations who had skills gaps reported that these gaps were specific to certain roles.

Skills - Third Sector is looking to address the skills gap by working collaboratively with employers in the sector as well as current or potential training providers.

With co-investment from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills through the Growth and Innovation Fund, The co-design process begins today on an interactive microsite, The Skills Platform, where recommendations and experiences from across the sector will be gathered and analysed.

Skills - Third Sector will use the co-design process to create and launch the platform currently under the working title, ‘The Skills Platform,’ in September 2013.

It will be a cost-effective solution for skills providers to reach the charities and social enterprises that need their support, and a destination for the greatest possible range of training and development opportunities in one place – the first of its kind in the UK.

Keith Mogford, chief executive of Skills - Third Sector, said: “Organisations working in the social sector tell us that a more highly skilled workforce will help them adapt to the changing environment in the UK.

"Better skills are necessary for us to be able to survive in difficult financial times and seize opportunities to grow and develop. Much of the skills support that's needed is already available, but finding it and making informed comparisons can still be frustrating or even impossible.

"Organisations and the workforce need the right support in the right place, at the right time and at the right price and if it doesn't exist, the platform will give people the information they need to create it.

“By working directly with social sector organisations on the one hand and training providers on the other, we hope to create a platform where organisations can up-skill and share expertise and knowledge.

“Our ambition is to create a marketplace that is a viable and long-term solution to the skills gap in the social sector. We are calling for more organisations to join us in our co-design process and help develop a platform that meets their needs.”

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