Here is a testimony from a PCTG Member - All the encouragement you need to join!

"We cannot express how much knowledge and support Dee at Plymouth Construction Training Group (PCTG) provides; she has helped me/us immensely. Without her guidance we would struggle to manage our training grant submissions and as a result we could easily miss out on the annual £5k CITB S&T funding. Dee is the loveliest person, and she falls over backwards to help with whatever training support we require, I am in contact with her most weeks for one reason or another. 

Dee has provided an endless amount of support, such as:

·     Being my first point of contact when booking training,

·     Sends out regular updated lists of course dates and information available from all the local training providers,

·     Locates specific courses and best prices as and when required,

·     Books courses on our behalf, chasing booking information and invoices etc,

·     Arranges private courses when no dates have been scheduled by training providers,

·     Arranges discounts on all training fees,

·     Raises concerns or queries with either training providers or CITB and sees them through to completion,

·     Responds to all calls for help or booking requests at the earliest opportunity,

·     Compiles a detailed monthly newsletter which is full of really useful information and highlights important issues, introduces new schemes for funding and training e.g. Changes to plant funding and detailed information on T-Levels – I have learnt so much from these alone!

·     HSE - Regular newsletter updates regarding HSE announcements, articles, and inspections, with examples of when things go wrong! It helps to remind everyone why training is important.

·     Holds Quarterly Member’s meetings, these include guest speakers from a variety of different areas, available face to face or via a Teams link, extremely informative, minutes are distributed to all members including non-attendees, so nobody misses out,

·     Updates the Members Hub via the PCTG website is full of information and updates from copies of Newsletters to Toolbox talks, or HSE information, Apprenticeship and T-Level information, as well as all the CITB Grants and funding information and so much more all in one place!

·     CITB S&T Grant approval and support – Without Dee, we may never have applied for it! Dee completed the application for us, monitored all of our bookings/costs/invoices, reviews it regularly to advise how much we have spent/have left to spend, raises variations when required, and provides the evidence and completed tracker when we need to submit it to CITB at the end of the year – an amazing service! This saves us so much time, and we secured £5k of funding.

·     Gives advice on all Short Course Tier funding, GET codes, which courses are and aren’t covered and help to track down the best funded courses,

·     Missed funding – Supplies information via all the different forms of communication channels and by regularly inviting Angus (CITB) as a guest speaker at meetings – we learnt of the CITB’s new Apprenticeship team, the updated funding allowances and also the amendment for backdated funding when they were introduced – we were supported when applying for missed grants to the tune of approximately £10k!

·     Regular bulletins for any new courses available, some are free or heavily funded, and when courses need extra bodies in order to go ahead, Dee will promote these to the group, helping smaller businesses to spread the cost,

·     Dee has the personal touch of someone who cares and will always try to help where she can. When I contacted her about a young school leaver in his search for an electrical apprenticeship after being let down by a company weeks before his start date, Dee made introductions and circulated his CV to attempt to help and kept in touch with the family concerned,

·     Networking – Dee has built up network of people and companies to whom she can seek information or support and can actively approach when required, there have been several occasions where this has helped us. There are also networking opportunities for the members at the Quarterly meetings,

·     Pro-active – Dee is always happy to accept new ideas and where applicable approach new training companies with a view to expanding the offer from PCTG, e.g. POD Training, Dee will share best practices and welcomes input into the monthly newsletters from members,

·     Dee is extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of training and H&S but on the odd occasion when she doesn’t know the answer, she will go the extra mile and research the given topic or make contact with the relevant body to obtain clarity or answers to help in whatever way she can,

·     No question is too much trouble no matter how big or small…."

"I find it amazing that we have access to all this support and knowledge for a mere £75 per year.

Thank you, Dee, for everything you do, we really appreciate your support. We would be lost without you 😊"

Jonathan Case Builders & Contractors Limited, January 2024