At Karbon Homes we help you reach your potential. One of the many ways we do this is through our New Start employment programme. The programme supports social housing residents facing barriers to employment, offering personalised support and opportunities to transform their futures with career starter placements.
This year, we partnered with Thirteen Group and Beyond Housing to deliver New Start on behalf of Tees Valley Combined Authority as part of the Move Forward programme. We recently caught up with a group of residents living in the Tees Valley who have just started new six month placements thanks to the programme.
Zoe, aged 30 from Middlesbrough is working as a Neighbourhood Teams Assistant with Beyond Housing:
“My little girl had heart and breathing problems which were made worse during the pandemic, so obviously she came first. Now that she is happy and healthy and gone into school full time, it felt like the right time to look for work.
“I’d been applying for apprenticeship roles for a while with little success. Kim, my Employability Officer, suggested I apply for one of the New Start roles, so I thought I’d give it a go.
“The interviews were so straightforward. It was a nice surprise. Kim was a godsend, she helped me figure out which jobs were right for me, how to write my CV and prepare for the interview.
“I think I cried a bit when I got offered the job. I’d been let down so many times previously that it had chipped away at me, I was thinking ‘what’s the point?’. Kim told me to just keep going and be positive. Now I have a job I feel over the moon. It shows people that I can be something.”
Katie, aged 44 from Redcar has started working as a Care Assistant for Caremark:
“I was nervous because I hadn’t had a job interview before in my life. I’d always just sort of walked into jobs. This is completely different.
“My Employment Advisor, Graeme just told me to relax, to make notes and, if I had any questions for the interview, just to write them down and bring them along. He made it feel like more of a conversation.
“I’m happy but a bit nervous to start the job as I haven’t worked for so long, but Graeme has told me I can contact him if I have any worries so I feel really supported.”
Nicola Lloyd, aged 44 from Middlesbrough has joined Beyond Housing as a Host Assistant:
“I really liked the employer events. We got to meet the employers first so we could get to know them and see if we’d be interested in working for them before we applied for the jobs. You get more of a sense of what you’re going to be doing.
“I feel really happy and hope I’ll be able to get a full time role at the end of the placement. If not, I feel a lot more confident applying for jobs now. I’d worried about applying because I didn’t have qualifications, but New Start has given me confidence in the experience and skills that I do have.”
Adiam, aged 28 from Middlesbrough is also going to be working as a Care Assistant for Caremark:
“I love helping people and this job seemed perfect.
“I’m originally from Eritrea in East Africa. It’s taken some time to adjust and learn a new language and the different systems.
“My Employment Advisor was able to give me advice on what I could do work wise, courses I could take part in to support me and interview preparation. It really motivated me.
“I want to gain more knowledge and experience in this role. I want to keep progressing and I feel more confident that I can get there now. I feel good.”
Shazia, aged 50 from Middlesbrough is working as a teacher at Nur Fitness:
“I’ve never worked before; I was a housewife since I moved over from Pakistan so this is my first job. English isn’t my first language as well, but New Start has been able to support me to work on this as well as putting me on courses that can help me to develop my skills.
“I’m hoping I can get qualifications to do more teaching in the future. This is getting me into the rhythm of working and I feel good, more motivated.”
New Start Tees Valley is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. To find out more about New Start and how it can support you to start a new career, visit www.new-start.co.uk.
This project has been supported by the Tees Valley Combined Authority as part of the Move Forward programme. You can find out more about Move Forward on this page.
At Karbon Homes we help you reach your potential. One of the many ways we do this is through our New Start employment programme. The programme supports social housing residents facing barriers to employment, offering personalised support and opportunities to transform their futures with career starter placements.
This year, we partnered with Thirteen Group and Beyond Housing to deliver New Start on behalf of Tees Valley Combined Authority as part of the Move Forward programme. We recently caught up with a group of residents living in the Tees Valley who have just started new six month placements thanks to the programme.
Zoe, aged 30 from Middlesbrough is working as a Neighbourhood Teams Assistant with Beyond Housing:
“My little girl had heart and breathing problems which were made worse during the pandemic, so obviously she came first. Now that she is happy and healthy and gone into school full time, it felt like the right time to look for work.
“I’d been applying for apprenticeship roles for a while with little success. Kim, my Employability Officer, suggested I apply for one of the New Start roles, so I thought I’d give it a go.
“The interviews were so straightforward. It was a nice surprise. Kim was a godsend, she helped me figure out which jobs were right for me, how to write my CV and prepare for the interview.
“I think I cried a bit when I got offered the job. I’d been let down so many times previously that it had chipped away at me, I was thinking ‘what’s the point?’. Kim told me to just keep going and be positive. Now I have a job I feel over the moon. It shows people that I can be something.”
Katie, aged 44 from Redcar has started working as a Care Assistant for Caremark:
“I was nervous because I hadn’t had a job interview before in my life. I’d always just sort of walked into jobs. This is completely different.
“My Employment Advisor, Graeme just told me to relax, to make notes and, if I had any questions for the interview, just to write them down and bring them along. He made it feel like more of a conversation.
“I’m happy but a bit nervous to start the job as I haven’t worked for so long, but Graeme has told me I can contact him if I have any worries so I feel really supported.”
Nicola Lloyd, aged 44 from Middlesbrough has joined Beyond Housing as a Host Assistant:
“I really liked the employer events. We got to meet the employers first so we could get to know them and see if we’d be interested in working for them before we applied for the jobs. You get more of a sense of what you’re going to be doing.
“I feel really happy and hope I’ll be able to get a full time role at the end of the placement. If not, I feel a lot more confident applying for jobs now. I’d worried about applying because I didn’t have qualifications, but New Start has given me confidence in the experience and skills that I do have.”
Adiam, aged 28 from Middlesbrough is also going to be working as a Care Assistant for Caremark:
“I love helping people and this job seemed perfect.
“I’m originally from Eritrea in East Africa. It’s taken some time to adjust and learn a new language and the different systems.
“My Employment Advisor was able to give me advice on what I could do work wise, courses I could take part in to support me and interview preparation. It really motivated me.
“I want to gain more knowledge and experience in this role. I want to keep progressing and I feel more confident that I can get there now. I feel good.”
Shazia, aged 50 from Middlesbrough is working as a teacher at Nur Fitness:
“I’ve never worked before; I was a housewife since I moved over from Pakistan so this is my first job. English isn’t my first language as well, but New Start has been able to support me to work on this as well as putting me on courses that can help me to develop my skills.
“I’m hoping I can get qualifications to do more teaching in the future. This is getting me into the rhythm of working and I feel good, more motivated.”
New Start Tees Valley is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. To find out more about New Start and how it can support you to start a new career, visit www.new-start.co.uk.
This project has been supported by the Tees Valley Combined Authority as part of the Move Forward programme. You can find out more about Move Forward on this page.
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