Access to Employment success story – Owen
Our Access to Employment service, funded by Wisbech CLLD, provides an employment support drop-in for those needing help to find work. They have recently helped one individual, Owen, to get back onto his feet and find a fantastic job.
Owen, lives in Wisbech and had been looking for employment for over ten years. He has previous experience of working in security but after the loss of his mother, which hit him hard, he began to suffer with anxiety and depression and working took a back seat for him.
Unfortunately, Owen then found himself homeless and with no support network to help him, he was referred to the Ferry Project. They provided him support and into permanent accommodation with his own flat. After settling in, Owen was still not ready to take on employment but did want to do something for the local community and thus started volunteering at Vision – 50 Backpacks, a local community group which supports people in Wisbech who are living on the streets.
Owen was then introduced to Access to Employment. The team, led by Hannah Dalgarno (A2E Manager), engaged with Owen and supported him to create a new CV as well understand his background, skills and abilities. They spent time understanding the kind of job that Owen wanted which was to ultimately give back to people and support people who were having a hard time.
Once the CV was ready, Owen was able to apply for various support and care work in the area and allowed him to create an Indeed account where he could make his CV public.
Hannah explains, ”He was approached by Genesis Housing and was offered an interview for a permanent, full time role working with 16-25 year olds at a supported accommodation site. After the interview he was told that the job was his.
We then worked with Owen to provide him with interview clothes and helping him with his transport to work”.
Owen has benefitted greatly from the support of our Access to Employment service and especially Hannah; “Working with Hannah at YMCA Trinity Group has given me the confidence to apply for work again and made me believe in myself after being out of work for 10 years. She was always there to give me advice, and I am so excited to start this position. Not only is this a job but a career and something that I have wanted to do for a long time. Thank you so much!”
If you or someone you know needs support to get into employment or training then feel free to contact [email protected].