Training Opportunities and Living Skills

Blyth Star Enterprises operates its own programmes of in-house training across our Day Services which are externally endorsed by the awarding organisation, NOCN.

A person kneading dough on a wooden table with flour on their hands

Professionally endorsed training opportunities

In 2017 Blyth Star Enterprises secured funding to develop the packages of in-house training that we deliver to our day service users at Stakeford Nurseries, The Woodfuel Centre and Woodwork Department.

The horticulture and woodfuel and woodwork training programmes taught at Stakeford Nurseries and The Woodfuel Centre are based on modular frameworks. Delivered over the course of two-years, both programmes have been externally endorsed by the Awarding Organisation, NOCN to provide service users with the opportunity to gain certificates as they learn new skills.

Our service users’ progress is assessed and monitored through a personal learning profile which tracks their development through each module. Teaching staff also consider how the individual’s social skills, communication and confidence improve throughout the course.

Why work-based training?

Blyth Star Enterprises was founded on the principles of providing people living with complex mental health needs and learning disabilities with somewhere to live, somewhere to work and someone to care. Our day service provision forms just one part of a much bigger picture which when combined together, supports people to live better, more fulfilled lives.

Many people living with complex mental health needs and learning disabilities feel isolated from their local communities. Through the provision of day services that reflect real workplace settings, Blyth Star aims to help our service users reconnect while also providing valuable life experiences and transferable skills, such as:

  • Communicating confidently
  • Following instructions
  • Working as part of a team
  • Interacting with members of the public
  • Employment specific skills such as forklift truck driving

Our work-based training programmes

  • Horticulture

    The horticulture programme at Stakeford Nurseries is very comprehensive. The two-year programme covers a variety of topics including plant propagation techniques, how to identify different species of plant and the basics of how ecosystems work, providing service users with all of the theoretical and practical knowledge and skills they need in order to succeed.

    Learn more about our day service at Stakeford Nurseries

  • Woodfuel and Woodwork

    The woodfuel and woodwork combined training programme explores machine operation, health and safety, fork lift truck driving, warehousing processes and everyday DIY to provide service users with all of the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their ‘role’ at The Woodfuel Centre.

    Learn more about The Woodfuel Centre and Woodwork Department day services

Living Skills

Living Skills is the general term for the suite of skills and knowledge considered essential in order to be able to live independently.

Blyth Star Enterprises has been offering Living Skills support and education for a number of years, however, new for 2024 is our one-year long Living Skills programme which will see Service Users receive formal training and certificates to celebrate their learning.

Based on a modular framework the same as our work-based training, the Living Skills programme contains five separate units, designed to cover all aspects of essential living – basic health and safety, healthy eating and lifestyle, time telling, basic IT and cybersecurity and culminating in a reflective, self-led art project.

A man in a yellow hooded jacket being taught how to knit. People play cards in the background.
A man wearing glasses using a band saw to cut wood
Two women in a cafe talking and laughing
A man wearing ear defenders watering flowers in a plant nursery
Man in garden
Staff and service users at The Woodfuel Centre sitting on a green log grabbing machine

FAQ