Our EPIC programme announces that it has assisted over 2,600 people from 101 countries to find employment or enter further education and training

BITCI News - Sep 27, 2016

 

Business in the Community Ireland’s EPIC programme announces that it has assisted over 2,600 people from 101 countries to find employment or enter further education and training

EPIC stands for Employment for People from Immigrant Communities

A number of companies including CPL, BT and Enterprise Rent a Car provide free training

David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration attends graduation event celebrating recent EPIC participants

 

September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. 

Since 2008, EPIC has worked with over 2,600 unemployed people from 101 countries, building their skills and confidence and helping them integrate in Ireland.  Over 1,000 of these have progressed into paid employment, with a further nearly 700 taking up training, education, intern and volunteer roles, all of which are recognised as important progress towards employment.

 

Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration, Mr David Stanton T.D., who presented the Certificates of Achievement to the recent graduates from the Programme, said:  “EPIC is an innovative programme which aims to assist people from immigrant communities find employment or enter further education. I am delighted to see so many nationalities participate in the programme as employment is such a vital tool for integration. The EPIC programme is a great example of government, business and non-profit partnership.”

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Pictured is David Stanton, Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Pictured is David Stanton, Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Pictured is David Stanton, Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration and Ebere Onouha, EPIC Programme Graduate. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Pictured is David Stanton, Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration and Ebere Onouha, EPIC Programme Graduate. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Pictured is David Stanton, Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Pictured is David Stanton, Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Picture Jason Clarke

Repro Free: September 28th 2016: The EPIC programme which is run by business network, Business in the Community Ireland, brings government, business, state agencies and NGOs together to assist immigrants to gain employment by providing training and support. Over 100 of the latest participants graduated today at an event in Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and David Stanton T.D., Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration and Integration was present to congratulate the graduates. Picture Jason Clarke

EPIC has had participants from 101 different countries including Nigeria, Brazil, Romania, Poland, Spain and Lithuania. A number of businesses support the programme by providing training, interview skills or work experience placements.

Today’s event featured a panel session of business leaders discussing the issue of diversity and why engaging with the EPIC programme was important not only for the graduates but also for their own employees. The panel featured Anne Heraty,  Chief Executive Officer, Cpl Resources plc, Shay Walsh,  Managing Director, BT Ireland and Leslee O’Loughlin, Group Human Resource Manager, Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Supports provided by these companies and many more include mock interviews, CV writing workshops, IT skills, work placements and much more.  For example, BT has provided IT training to 1,137 EPIC participants with CPL hosting 1029 mock interviews to date. Enterprise Rent-a-Car have provided interview skills workshops and work placements.

 

Other companies who have supported the programme include Accenture, Abbot, Allianz, An Post, Bank of Ireland, Boots, Career-fit.ie, Comfort Keepers, Davy, Dawn Farms, Debenhams, ebay, Educogym, Encendo, Ericsson, Executive Connections, Google, Graphic Mint, Harvey Nash, Indeed, Irish Aviation Authority, KPMG, Lionbridge, Manpower, Matheson, Oracle, PCHR Consulting, RTE, Sigmar, Sodexo, The PALS Programme, Urban Outfitters, Veolia and Workday.

“The support of businesses in Ireland for our EPIC programme has been amazing. Through a wide range of supports from companies, our EPIC clients are armed with the right skills for the Irish job market. Without a doubt, employment is the best way for people to integrate into a society and the continued success of the EPIC programme is testament to that,” said Tina Roche, CEO of Business in the Community.

 

The programme targets immigrants that experience difficulties accessing appropriate employment and supports them in the process by providing individual guidance, specialised training and personal development opportunities.  EPIC is funded by the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration under the Department of Justice & Equality together with the European Social Fund and is run by Business in the Community Ireland.

 

Ends

For further information, contact Moira Horgan, Business in the Community Ireland on 086 172 2105 or mhorgan@bitc.ie