Another 14 people aged under 25 have been given a helping hand back onto the career ladder, thanks to Family Housing.
Working in partnership with the National Housing Federation and 3SC, which supports public sector and not-for-profit organisations to deliver contracts, we have seen the third tranche of Future Jobs Fund (FJF) employees start work across the business.
The youngsters have experienced work in areas such as community investment, training and employment property services, supported housing and finance, to help develop their skills and increase their employability.
The FJF was a Labour government scheme aimed at creating 170,000 jobs across the UK for young and long-term unemployed people. It generated paid work placements to benefit communities.
In total we have created and hosted 41 FJF placements. Six of these people have gone on to secure either a permanent or fixed-term position with us.
The final round of FJF employees started between November 2010 and February 2011 for six-month placements.
Training and employment coordinator at Family Kandyce Downer said: “This initiative has been a great opportunity for us to create employment opportunities for people in the city’s communities.
“We are exploring other ways to continue to offer these employment opportunities now that the Future Jobs Fund has ended. We have also had another 22 people working on paid placements with us through the Intermediate Labour Market project in partnership with Pertemps People Development Group and funded by the Working Neighbourhoods Fund.”
Twenty-year-old Matthew Gibbons came to work for us on a FJF placement in our repairs and maintenance team as an administration assistant. When a vacancy came up he successfully applied for an operations support officer post.
Matthew said: “The placement gave me a lot of confidence and offered me an opportunity to build my skills. I was so happy when I was able to get a permanent position and progress my career with Family. It is great they have these opportunities and they really help people.”