News Articles

  • Family Fund is the UK’s largest charity providing grants for families on low incomes raising disabled or seriously ill children and young people.

  • Tax-Free Childcare is a UK wide government scheme that can help with up to £2,000 per year for eligible families towards the cost of their childcare.

  • Advice NI encourages families to take advantage of local School Uniform Swops.

  • We are now facing a similar recession to 2008, however this time personal credit is out of control in UK & NI, the Banks and lending sector seem to have learned nothing from their previous mistakes.

  • Are you prepared for Universal Credit?

  • Universal Credit Awareness Sessions

  • The Private Rented Sector Access Scheme

  • In December Advice NI launched its new and updated website. As part of the upgrade, we have added an online booking system for our training courses.

  • Advice NI highlights importance of advice services as local government is about to undergo significant change. Ahead of changes to local government in Northern Ireland, Advice NI has called upon local Councils to ensure that the work of independent advice services is recognised and protected.Advice NI leads delivery of independent advice services across the current Castlereagh Borough Council area. The service involves face to face service provision by advisors locally deployed to service the Castlereagh outreach venues. Appeal tribunal representation services and dedicated money advice services are in place, a dedicated Freephone line has been established and an email advice facility is also in place.In April 2015, as part of the reform of local government in Northern Ireland the number of councils will be reduced from 26 to 11. There will be significant changes with the majority of households in Castlereagh merging with Lisburn City Council with 38% of the population of Castlereagh and 21% of Lisburn moving to the new Belfast City Council. The new Castlereagh and Lisburn Council area will have approximately 137,000 residents and approximately 56,000 households.Speaking about the service, Bob Stronge Advice NI Chief Executive said: “Independent advice services are much-needed and highly valued by people across Northern Ireland. Advice NI and member organisations have a proven track record in providing excellent advice services across the community and we acknowledge the support and commitment shown by Councils to advice services. We look forward to working with the new Councils post RPA to similarly ensure that independent advice remains a key community service moving forward.”

  • Training Tailored to Suit Your NeedsAdvice NI’s Bespoke Training FlourishesAdvice NI’s bespoke training service has become an increasingly popular option for organisations over the last few years. In parallel with increased numbers on our scheduled training and despite pressures on training budgets, we continue to be regarded as best practice and best value. In the past 4 months alone we have developed 11 bespoke training courses, delivered through 22 training sessions, at various locations throughout Northern Ireland. These courses include: Lone Working, State Pension & Pension Reform, Welfare Reform and Challenging Client Scenarios. Our satisfied customers include voluntary, statutory and private organisations including Mercer Hamilton, Council for the Homeless, The Older Persons Commissioner for Northern Ireland, Carecall, Fermanagh District Council, Extern, Disability Action and Fold Housing Association.  Why are more and more organisations choosing bespoke? 

    • Save Time and Money Bringing a bespoke course in-house can not only reduce the cost per delegate but can also save on travel expenses and time away from the office.

     

    • Tailored Content You can work directly with the trainer enabling us to develop a customised training course/package that meets your organisation’s requirements and needs. Training can be developed to suit the preferred learning style of delegates as well as specific content and activities. We will keep you involved every step of the way to ensure your organisation is entirely happy with the content. We can even offer practical exercises drawing on your case studies.

     

    • Flexible The course can be delivered at a location and dates convenient to you.  You'll receive the most relevant up to date training content with minimal disruption to your organisation. In addition, you can also choose whether you have the training delivered over a series of shorter intensive courses or longer sessions.

     

    • Confidential The content of the materials and sessions can remain confidential. The in-house nature of bespoke training means your staff can talk freely & openly about specific sensitive issues your organisation may face.

      Why are organisations choosing Advice NI as their training provider?

    • Proven track record of experience and success, having delivered training to the advice sector for over 16 years.
    • Portfolio of over 70 courses in our scheduled programme as well as additional ‘off-the-shelf’ courses which we can amend to suit organisational requirements.
    • Dedicated training team with highly skilled tutors, assessors, verifiers and Subject Matter Experts in multiple disciplines.
    • An Approved Assessment Centre, audited for quality and able to develop and deliver accredited training packages with a choice of awarding bodies such as City and Guilds, ProQual and Open College Network Northern Ireland.
    • Multimedia approaches offering training through face-to-face, on-line learning and blended approaches, and can develop courses using our Moodle on-line learning platform.
    • Quality second to none: We have achieved the Money Advice Service Quality Standard for training for initial contact and support through to court representation and are working towards and the Skillsmark Quality Mark. We are leading the development and implementation of the NIASC Quality Mark for the Advice Sector.
    • Award winning: We have won several prestigious training awards reflecting the quality of our training, including a Regional Training Award in 2011, an AONTAS Star Award won in 2011 and 2015 and shortlisting in 2014.
    • Vocational: We have decades of experience in mapping training to National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Legal Advisers, Business Administrators and those involved in Customer Care, and to the Qualifications and Credits Framework.
    • Added Value: We can offer additional services such as researching your training needs and learning styles, which can be a useful foundation for organisational development.

     Straight from the horse’s mouth:We know that our bespoke training has been of immense value to individuals and organisations because they tell us:

    • Satisfaction rates for our bespoke training are consistently high. 100% of participants have been more than satisfied with our bespoke training over the past 12 months.
    • Testimonials include:

    “Very well explained and applied to real casework…a confident and knowledgeable presenter”– Overview of Welfare Reform (CHNI Derry) “An excellent course. I was really impressed by the way the Trainer picked up on something from the introductory comments and commented on each case” – Safer Lone Working for Frontline Staff (Rural Support NI)  Talk to one of our consultants:Whether you are looking for a one off workshop/course or to roll out a training programme Advice NI’s Training Team can develop and deliver an excellent learning experience tailored to suit your specific needs.For further information or to send an enquiry please contact our Training Team at Advice NI by email on training@adviceni.net or by telephone 028 90 645919.