Supporting customers back into work
As a registered provider of social housing, we don’t just provide homes, but we also look to improve communities and the life chances of people who live in them.
Our employability team helps people who are struggling to get a job or training to access the support they need.
One of the people who has benefitted from the service is Peter, a 37-year-old customer from Bolton who has two adult daughters.
Peter was a construction worker but had to leave his job after being diagnosed with epilepsy.
Losing his job made paying his rent difficult and affected his mental health. The change in payment patterns was flagged by Peter’s Neighbourhood Services Manager (NSM), who made contact with Peter about his increasing arrears.
The NSM referred Peter to our Employability Support Team, and Employability Coach Naseem made contact to see if we could help Peter find alternative employment.
Peter was initially skeptical but was delighted that Great Places was able to help him back on the employment ladder.
Naseem met with Peter on a number of occasions and she supported him to update his CV and provided him with coaching to find out what next steps he could take to get back into employment.
Naseem supported Peter to renew his Construction Skills Certificate Scheme (CSCS) Gold Card which had expired and secured funding for training to upskill him and allow him to retrain as a project manager within the construction industry, meaning that he could look to secure an office-based role that would suit his medical needs.
Peter successfully passed his Gold CSCS Card exam and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) online training and a few weeks later was offered a role as a project manager at the same firm that he had previously left.
Peter has now started work and this has made a huge difference to his mental health as well as his finances. He is now able to clear his rent arrears and is able to thrive in a role that will suit his medical needs.
If you think the employability service could help you, contact your Neighbourhood Services Manager or fill out our online form on our website. The team also offers taster training courses to improve skills and knowledge.