Start work with a cuppa and a chat

01.09.2008

Overcoming long term worklessness is about much more than just applying for a job, it’s a transforming process that starts with being listened to.

Transform for Work (T4W) was set up as a pilot project in Ilfracombe to try out new ways to help people get back into local jobs. The project, led by local Voluntary Sector Organisations, provides jobseekers with ‘one-stop’ access to a wide range of advice including work-focused training courses, voluntary work experience, confidence-building, help with interview skills, CVs, application forms and much more.

Transform’s approach is to focus on the needs of the individual, and starts with a cup of tea, and a chat to find out exactly what that person needs to help them get back into work. This crucial listening and relationship-building is at the heart of the service and is why so many people have been helped by the project to access training and find new jobs; It’s the way the project is able to get to the heart of what is stopping people from working. The service is friendly and informal – but focused.

Once problems are uncovered, the project helps individuals work round them, or even tackles issues head on for the benefit of the wider job-seeking community. For example, advisers learned that many people in North Devon were barred from getting work in the construction industry as they needed to get a Construction Skills Safety Certificate... but the nearest place to take the test was in Yarnscombe – miles away in the country and impossible to get to without a car. The team set up a training course in Ilfracombe, helping ten people get the certificate they needed.

In this interview with the Transform’s Neighbourhood Manager, Gary Smith, and from quotes from T4W’s clients, we find out more what excludes people from work and about T4W’s tried and tested solutions.

How did you discover what keeps people out of work?

We got our ideas about worklessness by talking to people who were out of work! We listened to them and respected them. We heard that to move into work people must also have the tools to do that and the basic building blocks of life in place. Housing issues, debt and health are fundamentally important. National unemployment figures also show that lots of people are out of work because of mental health issues. So a lot of T4W’s work is around getting these building blocks of life into place before looking at work. The key thing to work on is often self-esteem; how people perceive themselves given their situation – to get a job you have to sell yourself. Another barrier people often struggle with is the complexities of benefits. People are frightened that if the job they are looking at is temporary or seasonal, or doesn’t work out, they’ll take ages to get back onto the benefits they depend on. For some people just thinking about it is quite draining. Without the necessary support in place, there is a high risk of failure – and of further compounding ill health.

“I took a job on short-term contract, when the job ended I had to go through the whole process of filling in forms, having no money for 2 weeks. Luckily for me, my family helped me out, but what if I had no family. You can’t live on thin air.”

Aren’t some of these good reasons why people should not be pushed to work?

“The Job Centre presented me with an application form for a job in Roundswell in Barnstaple. The morning shift started at 6.30 am. What was I supposed to do with my child? I would have had to leave home at 5.30 in the morning, but there are no buses at that time in the morning and it’s £3.40 for a return journey from Ilfracombe to Barnstaple…"

What people should have is suitable opportunity to work. What we want to do is to open that door. Very often people see themselves as unable to work. For example some people with mental health problems find they can only work for periods at a time. People told us that they would work if they could because working is integral to feeling part of society. So we try and find ways to match the needs of clients with employers. And we stay with people while they try work out. For example, we arrange volunteering opportunities while still on benefits. We also make sure people have the right benefits even while in work, so they aren’t worse off. So it’s encouraging, not pushing. Our focus group identified the need for ongoing one to one mentoring. People who’ve gone through the process now volunteer to mentor other people going through it, so we can help people who start a job to get over the practicalities of finding their way into it – like sticking with a client in the first 6 weeks to make sure they have transport and child care in place.

Why do people often find it hard to overcome worklessness by themselves?

“I would give up before I had even started filling in forms as I was sure my application would be dismissed straight away. It knocks your confidence and can affect your self-esteem.”

Complexity of the benefits system and rurality are key issues. People are frightened that they will end up worse off. For each person the benefits calculations are different and complex. From Ilfracombe it’s quite a journey to get to appointments with Job Centre Plus 45 minutes away in Barnstaple for advice. All T4W’s clients rely on some form of benefit when they come in the door, and most needed help with form filling. Other big issues are dealing with mental pressures of housing, poor health and debt. They need looking at too, and ideally with the extra input of someone who’s gone through a similar experience. It’s a big step coming off benefits. If you’ve been out of work out of more than 2 years, statistics show that you’re more likely to die than go back into employment.

What is it that attracts people to take the step of contacting Transform?

We realised we needed a high street presence and to bring all our advisers under one roof. We knew that people wouldn’t be coming to us because they had to – like they do to Job Centre Plus because they get their benefits there. We had a really good win in that we asked Job Centre Plus about gaps we could fill. They told us about the lack of a local trainer for the Construction Safety Certificate. Most return to work programs find they attract more women than men. So we set up a training centre for the certificate locally and got men in the door. The rest was word on the street and people being aware of the practical outcomes our clients’ achieved. What people like is that they get access to all the services they need in a one-stop-shop, plus the chance to try work out while on benefits. The project is the product of a partnership between loads of local services and they all refer clients to us too. The core Transform partnership included Pathfinder Trust, ‘Scribes’ CIC and North Devon Voluntary Services – all well known, established local voluntary sector agencies. People trust us – and know that we live in and really understand our local community.

What does Transform do that a job centre doesn’t?

“I have so many ups and downs. I could go for three weeks feeling totally fine and then depression will set in again, leaving me totally incapable of doing anything… I cannot hold a job down.”

We help people get phone-based appointments with Job Centre Plus, and that’s important as their advisers help clients work out whether they will get benefits while they are in work. But, T4W is not just about jobs, it’s about helping people find routes to work at the same time as addressing what’s kept them away from work. We do this on an individual basis, and, listening to what we hear from individuals, we set up initiatives that will help across the board. For example, a large proportion of clients on incapacity benefit suffer depression. So we set up a fitness programme to improve self-esteem, and women who attended said it helped reduce their dependence on anti-depressants. Another example of being responsive in this way was when we realized there was no local catering training provider, despite most jobs being in the tourism industry. So now we use a local hotel to run courses every year in the low season. Even small gestures help, like giving people service wash vouchers so they can turn up to interviews feeling smart. But the key thing is we do everything in one place, and you don’t get asked the same depressing questions over and over again. When you come in you meet a volunteer (one of the people who has gone through the programme already). You get a warm welcome, a ‘menu’ of services and a cup of tea. Depending on what you tick on the menu, you work with a selection of advisers. They all work from the same client file, which records the advice you’ve been given and the support you need. People work together, support each other, form lasting friendships and so lose the sense of isolation that prevented them moving forward. We also encourage people to consider self-employment or working together on ideas for community businesses & social enterprise. There is so much untapped talent in our community, we want to help that talent to flourish.

What other kinds of organisations can help Transform people’s lives so they feel ready to work?

The T4W project is supported by a partnership of all kinds of service providers. Almost every kind of agency can either help or benefit from this approach: police, benefits and legal advice services, poverty and finance advisers, credit unions, local authorities, housing services, child care providers, schools, colleges, training providers. People need all kinds of things to get to work: like a birth certificate so you can open a bank account and get paid; affordable local childcare; training for the jobs that are available in your area. And what’s key is you all join up in one place, on people’s door-step so that they don’t have to go from office to office. The local partnership network has been crucial to our success.

What are the key things people need to do to follow T4W’s success?

1. Form strong networks of local Voluntary & Community Sector organisations. Talk to your local CVS to identify suitable local partners.
2. Set up a common way of working with clients and a central client file – people are fed up with being sent around the houses and saying the same things over and again.
3. Work together from the same place, where everybody can find you easily.
4. Offer a menu of services and attract people to use as many as possible: The clients that used multiple T4W services were typically the ones who got back into work.
5. Make sure people who receive the service are part of designing the service.
6. Give advice about what benefits people can get while in work, and if they stop work.
7. Provide opportunities to try out specific types of work by volunteering at same time as being on benefits.
8. Help people as they settle into the new routine and organise it into their lives.
9. Find out what the local job market wants and set up local training opportunities.
10. Find partners who can help provide Cognitive Behavioural Therapy if you can. It’s hard to get this on the health service, and yet so many clients say they want it.

“If you let people know that there is training, volunteering and work opportunities available, they will use the service. Not everyone in Ilfracombe is lazy.”

To find out more about Transform visit www.transform-northdevon.org.uk

• Open Hearts Open Minds Editor interviewing Gary Smith: Sam Magne

With thanks to Open Hearts Open Minds for permission to reproduce this article - for details, visit www.openheartsopenminds.org.uk