wdh

Training for Employment

Case study

Participant at work at WDH

One participant on our TFE programme had been a full-time carer for immediate relatives for a long period of time. When they no longer had this responsibility, they found themselves unemployed.

The participant attended the Job Centre and from there received support from Sarah Aucott, Community Employment Advisor for WDH.

Speaking about the support they received: "Sarah was lovely, and fantastic at her job. She helped me with my CV and offered me the opportunity to work on the fencing team with WDH."

After successfully completing a training assessment at Wakefield College, the participant started the fencing programme under the support of the Training for Employment Team.

They said: "I loved it from day one. We would erect fences around the district with our team leader and meet tenants as part of our customer service. The mating and cutting of ground boards and fencing was my favourite part of the work and we even helped with some demolition work, getting really good feedback. The whole team was excellent and very supportive, not just for the job but for you personally. The team leaders were brilliant, and the Employee Mentor was outstanding."

They added: "The team I worked with was great. We trusted in each other's abilities, we all wanted to be there every day and the days went by very quickly. The fencing scheme helped me learn new skills, make friends and increased my self-belief."

Being motivated from completing the fencing programme, they decided to apply for the position in another team and was successful.

Karen Wilders, Training for Employment Manager at WDH, said: "The participant worked extremely hard and shown commitment to learning new skills to help carry out the role. A positive attitude and determination to succeed enabled them to move into another role which will offer new challenges."