Communities for Work +
Summary
Participant A. had struggled with his health conditions for many years, he was keen to make a change when he was referred to Communities for Work +. Following 1-1 support from an Employment mentor, participant A began to realise his potential and started looking at opportunities that suited his lifestyle that also gave back to the community. Through coaching and action planning, participant A began volunteering at the local community charity and is now thoroughly enjoying his role.
Background
Participant A. was referred by his work coach at Job Centre Plus to the Communities for Work + scheme, part of the Working Denbighshire service.
Following a serious illness in 2013 which debilitated his whole body he had been claiming benefits for 6 years. Participant A. was economically inactive during his time in hospital and during recovery but at referral point was now claiming Job Seekers Allowance for 12 months as the DWP now deemed him ‘fit to work’.
Participant A. lived alone in the Denbighshire area in a privately rented property. He wanted to return to work due to feeling much better and was ready to make that next vital step in going back to the work place but wasn’t sure how. He did however have restrictions due to his health, no heavy lifting or high paced physically demanding employment.
He had previous work history in the Optical industry with over 23 years’ experience in customer service and management employed by a well-known optical company.
The engagement…
Participant A. believed his barriers into work were his age and the fact that he’d not been employed for 6 years due to illness.
He attended an ‘information session’ where staff introduced him to the tailored needs led support Communities for Work + could offer him in identifying work, education and/or training.
Once he met with me his employment mentor Participant A. began to realise that returning to work was beginning to become more realistic than he had originally thought. He began to grow in confidence once I discussed with him the areas he needed to be focusing on with support from Communities for Work + through doing a Work Star together.
The Work Star is a visual assessment tool which highlighted the areas of intervention that he needed to be looking at in order to get back to work. The Work Star showed that it was participant A’s ‘stability’ and ‘aspiration and motivation’ which needed to be looked at in order to move forward.
He worked in partnership with his Employment Mentor to work on these particular skills, meeting with his mentor once/twice a week. He produced an up to date CV and began volunteering at Dial-A-Ride as a volunteer driver. He also learned how to deliver a good professional interview again which improved his confidence and general mental health.
He then got the confidence to send out his C.V online to relevant agencies and complete online application forms for customer service related jobs.
Following all of Community for Work + support Participant A. is currently volunteering for a well-established community transport service as a volunteer driver and has received their training programme. He has been asked by Dial-A-Ride if in future when they have any vacancies, he will be asked if he would be interested in applying for a paid position. For the time being he is happy to have ‘purpose’ within his day and have a sense of belonging to something that makes a difference to people’s lives on a daily basis. He’s thoroughly enjoying meeting new people and being social again which being unemployed had stripped him of.
After Communities for Work + help Participant A said “It clearly comes across that you enjoy your role and without question are brilliant at what you do. I have found you easy to talk to, caring and completely non -judgemental…. great attributes for the job you do. Thank you Communities for Work +”.
Good Practice Shared / Lessons Learned / Outcomes
Participant A. began his journey with the Communities for Work Plus Project 10th February 2020 and had found volunteering supporting him back into paid employment by 18th March 2020!
Helping Participant A to start volunteering and recognise his potential and gain back the confidence he had lost since his accident demonstrates the importance of volunteering and how it can play a vital role in improving a person’s wellbeing and mental health.
