Employability Day 2024: Employment Support for Every Citizen
- Friday, September 13, 2024
Today is Employability Day – the UK’s largest celebration for organisations supporting people to gain, sustain and thrive in work.
This year’s theme is ‘Employment Support for Every Citizen’, recognising the importance of helping individuals and communities overcome complex barriers to gain meaningful employment.
The Growth Company is committed to this cause, and to mark the occasion, we are sharing some recent highlights from our employment services and EDI networks, along with inspiring stories of people we have supported into work.
Opening of our New Sheffield Office
On Tuesday, 10th September we opened our brand-new Sheffield office, celebrating the occasion with a partner networking morning. The event marked a significant milestone in our journey to expand our services and strengthen our community impact across South Yorkshire. It also served as an opportunity for local partner organisations to learn more about our key initiatives delivered to support people across the region, including the Restart Scheme and Refugee Employability Programme.
Support to Succeed Helps Sarah get Back on Track
The Growth Company delivers the Working Well: Support to Succeed programme across Greater Manchester. The programme engages economically inactive Greater Manchester residents who are not currently accessing support or seeking employment.
Sarah joined the programme earlier this year following several years of unemployment and struggles with addiction. Wanting to get her life back on track and help others who had experienced similar situations, Sarah worked with her key worker to explore her skills and options. Sarah was successful in gaining a position as a key worker on the Support to Succeed programme, and is now thriving in her role, helping others to overcome the challenges she once faced.
Mukhtar’s Experience on the Refugee Employability Programme
The Refugee Employability Programme (REP) supports refugees into sustained employment by providing individually tailored employability sessions, English language tuition, and help with job applications and access to vocational training.
Mukhtar came to the UK from Afghanistan and joined the programme after struggling to find work due to language barriers and a lack of experience. He was matched with Employment Advisor, Mohammad, who helped him construct a CV and apply for jobs. Mukhtar was soon offered a position as a Warehouse Operative at a local Tesco Distribution Centre where he recently started work. He is now enrolled on our In Work Support programme, which we offer to service users who have secured employment.
Supporting our Parent and Carer Colleagues
Creating a positive and supportive environment for all colleagues is so important to us at the Growth Company. Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) steering group is made up of eight networks, designed to promote and recognise the value that EDI brings to our organisation. One such network is our Parents and Carers Group, and to best support our parent and/or carer colleagues, we recently renewed our membership with Working Families, the UK’s work-life balance charity which works to remove the barriers that people with caring responsibilities face in the workplace.
The Growth Company
The Growth Company is an award-winning social enterprise with a mission to generate growth, create jobs, and improve lives.
We help people and businesses across the UK to develop, grow and succeed through a range of employment, skills and business support services. We provide employment, justice, and health services across Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire and Humber.
Contact us today to find out more.