Good Shepherd has developed a new Employment Ready Project aimed at supporting people in Wolverhampton who are ex-offenders or have experienced homelessness, addiction or mental health issues into employment.
The project offers those furthest from the job market the opportunity to build skills, access training and volunteering enabling them to gradually reintroduce to the workplace.
Good Shepherd’s new Employability Officer Sue, has been developing the Employment Ready Project and has supported the first service user, Mark, into training as a result of the programme, she said:
“Mark has been accessing our food services and expressed an interest in building his skills and confidence to make steps towards getting back into work. He has previously experienced poor mental health and he has his good and bad days.
“Mark recognised that he needs to improve his digital skills. He had previously attended a few different classes but he felt they were not meeting his needs. Mark expressed that he felt he really needed one-one support instead of being placed in a large class as he was very unsure about how to use a computer.“
Through the Employment Ready Project Mark has now secured training with a small local provider, TLC College. The training offers one-to-one support that takes place at Central Library. The training will help improve Mark’s digital skills, and enable him to search for job opportunities online, send emails and have more confidence accessing the internet, Mark said:
“I’ve only been coming to the Good Shepherd for a few weeks, and the staff are amazing.
“They’ve really helped me with my confidence. I’m now doing the Friendly Faces group on a Wednesday and the Men’s Group on a Thursday morning.
“I’m looking forward to my new training course and looking forward to the future.”
The Employment Ready Project helps to support Good Shepherd service users through an initial information and guidance interview, access and support into suitable training or volunteering opportunities and when people are ready, CV support, interview skills and exploring suitable job opportunities.
For more information about the project contact [email protected]