Award recognition for support into work services | News

Bolton at Home is one of three winners of the Give us a Chance (GUAC) social media competition. The competition sought leading examples of how housing associations provide employment related support for their tenants to access rewarding long-term work.

The competition is part of the wider Communities that Work campaign, led by GUAC, which seeks to raise awareness of the work that housing associations do to help people into work.

Lynsey Sweeney, Managing Director at Give us a Chance said: “I am delighted to announce the winners. This competition was designed to tell amazing stories of the social housing sector’s work in supporting tenants into employment. The stories of Bolton at Home, Futures Housing Group and Northwards are perfect examples of how much the sector is involved in employment related support.”

In the last 12 months we have supported 317 people, who were seeking employment, into paid work.

Tony Cottam, our Head of Employment and Enterprise, said: “Supporting people in our communities who want to improve their employment prospects is one of our priorities. We help people break through personal, social and economic barriers to prepare for work and secure jobs with our network of contractors and suppliers as well as employers in and around Bolton.”

Demi McDougall, from Halliwell, overcame personal challenges and now works for Glendale, our grounds and tree maintenance services provider. Demi is doing administration, gardening and landscaping work, as well as studying for an NVQ in horticulture.

In February Demi won the Bolton at Home personal achievement star of the community of the year. Demi featured in a short film, which has been commended by GUAC. You can see it here:

Personal achievement star from Bolton at Home on Vimeo.

 

We work to give people the confidence to look for and secure employment. Staff at our UCAN centres help people identify the barriers preventing them from getting a job. These can range from computer skills and CVs, to anxiety or lack of confidence. We offer appropriate support and once a person secures a job interview we invite them to our Working Wardrobe initiative.

Working Wardrobe is supported by Johnson Cleaners and offers a selection of good-quality second-hand suits for men and women, as well as shoes and accessories. Customers going to interviews make an appointment for a fitting at the shop on Bradshawgate and get some final interview coaching and encouragement.

Working Wardrobe was also a runner-up for the resident employment and training initiative of the year at the Northern Housing Awards on Thursday 23 May.

The Motiv8 programme was shortlisted in the Northern Housing Awards too, for best resident involvement initiative. Bolton at Home is one of the Greater Manchester delivery partners of Motiv8, delivered in Bolton and Wigan by our social enterprise Starts with you. Starts with you and delivery partners support people who are unemployed, underrepresented in the labour market and looking to overcome challenges to get their lives back on track.

For more details on the Northern Housing Awards, visit www.northernhousingawards.co.uk.

For more information about Give us a Chance, visit www.giveusachance.co.uk.