What is WINS?

The Women Into Nontraditional Sectors (WINS) project was set up to provide greater opportunities for women to take part in `non-traditional` jobs.

This includes jobs where most of the workers are usually men, for example:

in the construction industry
grounds maintenance
street cleaning
public transport.

Partners in WINS

We, as lead partner, have developed WINS as part of the European Union's Equal Community Initiative, with support from the Department for Employment and Learning.

Our partners are:

Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Translink
Construction Industry Training Board
Training for Women Network
Belfast GEMS (Gasworks Employment Matching Service)
Women's TEC
Department for Employment and Learning
ICTU NI Committee
Helm Corporation
Queen's University, Belfast.

These jobs often suffer from a negative image and WINS aims to show how employment has changed. We actively sought to encourage more women to consider this type of work.

The project was accessible to all women, particularly those who are returning to work after some time away (or those starting work for the first time) with dependent children and few or no formal qualifications.

This project was part-financed by the European Social Fund, under the NI Equal Community Initiative Programme.

Image: Department for Employment and Learning logo