The first fashion and textile apprentices in over a decade are set to start in Northern Ireland through a partnership between Strabane Training Services (Centre) and the Fashion and Textile Design Centre in Derry (Facilitator).

Strabane Training Services – winners at the NI Apprenticeship Awards 2020

Strabane Training Services and the Fashion and Textile Design Centre are now approved centres to provide training and assessment in the following areas:

• C2410-02 Level 2 Certificate in Apparel Footwear Leather or Textile Production (Apparel Production)
• C2411-02 Level 2 Certificate in Apparel Footwear Leather or Textile Production (Footwear Production)
• C2412-02 Level 2 Certificate in Apparel Footwear Leather or Textile Production (Leather Production)
• C2413-02 Level 2 Certificate in Apparel Footwear Leather or Textile Production (Textile Production)
• D2414-03 Level 3 Diploma in Apparel Footwear or Leather Production (Apparel)
• D2415-03 Level 3 Diploma in Apparel Footwear or Leather Production (Footwear)
• D2416-03 Level 3 Diploma in Apparel Footwear or Leather Production (Leather)
• C2110-N3 Level 3 Certificate in Apparel Manufacturing Technology (NVQ) (Garment Technologist)
• C2120-N3 Level 3 Certificate in Apparel Manufacturing Technology (NVQ) (Pattern and Grading Technologist)
• C2130-N3 Level 3 Certificate in Apparel Manufacturing Technology (NVQ) (Handcraft Garment Maker)
• C2140-N3 Level 3 Certificate in Apparel Manufacturing Technology (NVQ) (Sample Technologist)
• C2150-N2 Level 2 Certificate in Manufacturing Sewn Products (NVQ)
• C2153-C2 Level 2 Certificate in Manufacturing Textile Products (NVQ)
• D2153-C3 Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Manufacturing Textile Products
• D2154-03 Level 3 Diploma in Textile Design and Manufacture

The Fashion and Textile Design Centre is a ‘not for profit’ social initiative, set up to support newly graduated designers, established designers and SMEs in the Fashion and Textile industry of Derry ~ Londonderry and the North West of Ireland. Based in a stunning Georgian building within the historical 17th Century walls of the City, the FTDC opened its doors in 2014, is guided by the Inner-City Trust with the help of fashion and textile industry professionals and is supported by the Derry and Strabane District Council.

The FTDC sets out to establish new design businesses and support existing SMEs, with the purpose of creating employment within the fashion and retail sector of the North West of Ireland. It offer designers the opportunity to work in a creative environment with other like-minded individuals, industry professionals and technicians to help the designers take their concepts and collections through to marketable businesses. FTDC offers access to Trend Forecasting, UK and Irish Business directories and help designers to create a strategy that includes initial concept, product development, finance and funding, production, legal, marketing and market sales.

The FTDC also works with the local schools, colleges and wider community, in partnership with the Derry City and Strabane District Council and the Prince’s Trust.

The Rosemount Factory in Derry with A Stitch in Time installation

The FTDC builds on Derry’s long history of shirt making. The Rosemount factory, pictured above, is one of the 40 factory buildings that still dominate the skyline of Derry from the shirt making era – an industry that employed 10,000 workers in its heyday.

The recent UKFT NOS workshops at the FTDC

A number of apprentices are set to start from Northern Ireland-based O’Neills, which was founded in 1918 as a manufacturer of gaelic footballs and it is now the largest sportswear manufacturing company in Ireland.

Kieran Kennedy – Managing Director of O’Neills

There is no better time to take on an apprentice or train up a current member of staff thanks to new NI Government incentives which run until the end of March 2021, according to FTDC Business Development Manager Deirdre Williams.

Recruitment of New Apprenticeships

This incentive is available to all employers to support the recruitment of new apprentices. As an employer, you will be eligible for up to £3,000 for each new apprenticeship opportunity created from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. This bonus will apply to all new apprenticeship opportunities and includes apprentices who have been made redundant:

• Payment 1 – £2,000 after 90 days retention following start* of new apprenticeship
• Payment 2 – £1,000 after 200 days retention following start* of a new paid apprenticeship

*For the purposes of this scheme the start of the paid apprenticeship refers to the date agreed with the training contractor as the date that the apprentice begins their ApprenticeshipsNI or Higher Level Apprenticeship programme or, in the case of apprentices who were made redundant and subsequently employed by another employer, the date the apprentice re-joined their programme.

This scheme is open to employers who take on an apprentice participating on the DfE-funded ApprenticeshipsNI or Higher Level Apprenticeship programmes.

Find out more about the recruitment of new apprenticeships scheme, full eligibility terms and how to apply here.

Find out more about the Fashion and Textile Design Centre in Derry here

National Apprenticeship Week 2021

UKFT is the Government-appointed Sector Skills Body for fashion and textiles in all four nations, working with employers, education providers and other stakeholders to raise the skills and productivity of the people who work in the UK fashion & textile industry.

UKFT Skills & Training