Foundations for Life

Whether you’re looking to get in to work, progress your career, or reach a personal goal of gaining a new skill, our employment foundations advisors are on hand to help.

We can help you:

• Find a new job
• Gain qualifications and identify further training
• Update your CV and complete job applications
• Prepare for interviews
• Learn new skills
• Get in to volunteering and find work experience
• Obtain appropriate ID

When you do move into work or work experience/volunteering, we also provide support during transition for up to 6 months, to ensure you feel comfortable and confident in your new role.

In a world that’s becoming more and more digital each day, it’s important to us that our customers aren’t left behind.

We can help you:

• Get started with the basics of using your PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet
• Become more confident using the internet
• Stay connected with friends and family - using email, Skype or social media
• Save time and money online
• Find/apply for jobs and update your online employment journal
• Make the most of our online services, such as paying your rent, reporting a repair, or bidding for a new property

Our digital foundations coaches can create bespoke learning plans for customers of all ages, designed with their personal aspirations and goals in mind.

Our wellbeing coaches are here to help coach and empower you, on a 1-2-1 basis, to identify your long term goal,  pinpoint the main barriers you face in getting there, and agree how you can overcome them. They can also help you to improve important life skills that will support you on your journey towards reaching your goals.

We can help:

• Motivate you to improve your health and wellbeing by making the most of resources in your community
• Support you in identifying and accessing training, jobs, volunteering opportunities, work experience and qualifications
• Encourage you to engage in activities which will improve your social networks and social skills, to help build your confidence

Money management is just as important to us as having the skills to move into work or get online. Karbon’s Money Matters team is one of the largest in the North East, and can support with the following:

• Benefit checks and help completing application forms
• Help with appealing benefit decisions
• Support with making a Universal Credit claim and any issues that arise
• Debt advice (fully accredited money advice)
• Budgeting
• Help identifying and applying for individual grants
• Energy advice, including fuel grant applications
• Food Bank referrals

Karbon’s ultimate aim is to bring our customers the best experience and opportunities, and support our partners and communities to do the same. 
In order to do this, we provide support to organisations, big or small, in our area in a variety of ways:

• Digital train the trainer - we can help build and enhance your organisation's digital know how; whether it's for staff or volunteers
• Design and deliver bespoke digital training courses (non-accredited)
• Promote job vancancies, volunteering and work experience opportunities to our large online following
• Advertise, organise or fill up training courses
• Deliver training or attend your meetings to promote our service
• Establish referral protocols to ensure a consistent and smooth service for our customers

We are open to many different ways of working with organisations in our communities. If you’re interested in any of the above, or have any other ideas – give us a call or drop us an email.