Maxine’s story – “I love being back at work.”

You may find yourself worried about your employment, whether that’s your rights, redundancy, pay cuts, terms or disputes. The Growth Company together with Citizens Advice Manchester, Citizens Advice Bury & Bolton and Citizen’s Advice Salford and a network of legal partners set up Employment Legal Advice.

The service helps people across Greater Manchester to access free employment-related legal support that’s designed to help you access the right advice at the right time, as quickly and easily as possible.

We’d like to share Maxine Newlove’s story and how, after supporting her with an employment legal issue, we empowered her to find work and enhanced her skills so that she could confidently return to employment.

Maxine’s story

Maxine was encountering problems with her employer as well as dealing with the aftermath of her cancer treatment. Joanna Murfin - Triage Coordinator in our Employment Legal Advice team explains:

“Maxine told me that she had no idea how to represent herself with a case and, that she had no energy as a result of her cancer/treatment and was really struggling.

“I spent time taking-through all the information about her situation over the phone and made her an appointment with one of our employment solicitors - who after assessing all the evidence was able to offer ‘no win, no fee’ representation* and was willing to represent her with her case against her former employer.”

The case took a few months to conclude and Maxine was successful in receiving compensation (damages) from the employer. Maxine explains what this meant to her:

“I feel that, had it not been for the solicitor taking on my case, I may not have succeeded at all with my employment law claim. It took the immense pressure off me, as well as leaving me time to focus on getting myself back into employment.”

Returning to the employment market after a period of illness can be a daunting experience. That’s why the Growth Company and our partners provide a range of support services to help you get the job you want.

Because Maxine hadn't worked for 16 months due to a cancer diagnosis and her recovery period, we referred her to our Working Well (Work & Health) programme. It provides a tailored service to support you back into employment, with help from employment specialists, health professionals and community organisations.

Maxine was supported by Callum Agbadabunia, a key worker at our InWorkGM Hub in Trafford. Maxine explained what type of support Callum provided:

“Callum helped me improve my CV. He also put me in touch with charities, including Smart Works and Working Wardrobe, to help me present myself to find a job, as I had no working clothes due to weight loss or income to buy any.

“He organised a food bag and some vouchers for when I had no income and also helped me with my initial travel costs for my first two weeks and encouraged me to apply for Access to Work.

“I started my job with Clarke Telecom in October 2022 as a Design Admin. In March this year I started a new position with Clarke Telecom as a Project Coordinator. I love being back at work”.

Callum explained that, if you are currently unemployed and looking for work, we have a range of services to help you and our friendly team are on hand to support you every step of the way. Callum told us:

“Maxine was a pleasure to work with and was very proactive. I just pointed her in the right direction and she went and followed through.

“Access to work was a big one for Maxine to help her get set up in her new role, and it’s great to hear that she’s thriving with her promotion. In my role, I tried to make her transition back in to work as seamless as possible by expanding her support network.”

More information

For more information about the Employment Legal Advice service, visit the website.

The Working Well (Work & Health) programme has been designed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and is delivered by an alliance partnership, InWorkGM - between Ingeus and The Growth Company. Visit the website for more information.

For more information about Smart Works, visit their website.

For more information about Working Wardrobe, visit their website.

For more information about Access to Work, visit their website.

* We cannot guarantee this for all service users as it is the decision of the solicitor once they have assessed the evidence.