3CATS HAS BEEN RECOGNISED WITH A WRITE UP BY IAB

Link to the write up on the IAB website is https://www.iab.org.uk/news/full/3cats-helps-jobless-transform-lives-through-bookkeeping but to save you the trouble since we at 3cats are so excited you can have a read below of the write up :-

3CATS HELPS JOBLESS TRANSFORM LIVES THROUGH BOOKKEEPING

18/10/2016

When unemployed single mums turn up at a Job Centre looking for work, an offer to join a 3cats bookkeeping skills seminar can often transform their lives.

“They realise they can do something,” says David Nelson, founder of 3 Counties Accounts Training Service (3cats).

“They’ve been bowed under the pressure of single motherhood and all of a sudden, we’ve opened a door that tells them there’s something for them that they can earn money from and know they can be good at. We’re giving them back their confidence and showing them that they can achieve.”

3cats is one of few IAB-accredited training providers working closely with JobcentrePlus (JCP) and the unemployed.

It runs taster seminars for up to 12 benefit claimants at a time. They are usually over-subscribed. A regional JCP boss turned up at a Grantham seminar and liked what he saw.

After this “taster,” students can join – free of charge - a course for the IAB Level 1 Award in Bookkeeping and when successful, move on to the IAB Level 2 Certificate.

David set up 3cats with Jo Grant, an experienced bookkeeper, in 2013 to offer bookkeeping and accounts training across three counties – Lincolnshire, Northants and Rutland.

The retired senior manager in the food industry was familiar with Sage Accounting and taught at a local college. He recognised that 3cats had to be different to prosper in a competitive market.

Forging close relationships with JCP was a good way to do it. He visited centres in his target area and found a warm and supportive welcome.  “To them, we were manna from heaven. I went about it from a business point of view. I asked myself where was the need?”

The relationship has blossomed. 3cats has taken advantage of a £10,000-a-year Adult Skills Budget (ASB) from Lincolnshire County Council. It receives an average of £450 per benefit claimant per course that’s free to the claimant.

3cats keeps overheads down by renting village halls and youth centres. JCP sometimes lets it have a room for free.

However, as with all local government grants, the ASB is under pressure and may end. “More people want to do our courses than I have funding for from the county council,” David says.

This has prompted him to look for alternative sources of funding. He’s found a potential source in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Dynamic Purchasing System for the Provision of Work Focused Activities.

After completing Levels 1 and 2, some students aim to move to the IAB Level 3 Certificate but this is not fundable by the taxpayer. “They can do it but have to pay for it themselves,” says David.

He pays tribute to the IAB, saying it has “treated us very well” and offers “the best qualifications” for working in business.

For many, bookkeeping offers an interesting role that is in demand. For David, his students, who also include “women returners” wanting to equip themselves with the latest skills, and people looking for a career change, are highly motivated. He enjoys teaching them.

“We’ve had people come to us without a job and gone straight into employment, sometimes before they’ve even finished the course. We give them real case studies. Bookkeeping is a good way into work.

“A good bookkeeper makes a huge difference to a business that needs to keep up to date with cash in, cash out, and controlling cash flow. Their impact is significant.

“You can have two or three part-time jobs because that’s easy with book-keeping. There are huge numbers of small businesses, all needing someone to add up and take away.”

The father of three grown-up sons has hit on a successful formula. 3cats not only teaches the unemployed but also bookkeepers who wish to develop their skills and others wanting to move into accounting. It offers distance learning as well as classroom teaching.

But it is perhaps the work with JCP that gives David most pleasure.

As for the future, he does not want to grow the business “to a point where we have to have a management structure and bureaucracy. It may get bigger than it is now, but we’re going to stay small. That way I can make sure that what we deliver is the highest quality.”

He loves the work and the “huge satisfaction” he gains from seeing lives transformed through bookkeeping. “It’s fantastic and what drives me.”

As for other training providers who might like to follow the 3cats model, David is “happy to help.”