The impact of COVID-19 on unemployment levels – both in the immediate term and as the country exits lockdown – are significant. Traditionally ‘underserved’ groups, including prison leavers, care leavers, people from poorer socio-economic backgrounds, those with mental or physical health issues and young people – are set to be impacted most severely.
For businesses, opening their doors to people from these groups not only serves a strong social purpose and increases workplace diversity, it can also be hugely beneficial for businesses. There has never been a more important time to explore the potential of this untapped resource.
This Friday is National Employability Day. Whilst we would normally have celebrated the day in person, this year we need to do things differently. In addition to running webinars and activities with our staff internally to empower us all to provide some employability support (no matter how someone requests our support), we will be sharing reflections from those who use our services and running events throughout the day.
Our employability programmes are run in partnership with a number of organisations including Google.org, Barclays, Microsoft and more. To find out more about our current partnerships or to find out how you can partner with us in the future, please get in touch.
Employability Summit: Employing prison leavers in your business
On Employability Day 2020, we are holding the first Catch22 Employability Summit, bringing together employers who want to provide sustainable jobs and recruit from a diverse talent pool.
We’re bringing together employers from businesses, large and small, who have an interest in employing underserved groups, to explore some of the benefits of employing prison leavers and the support that Catch22 can offer.
We’ll be joined by a prison leaver who is now in work, who will be telling their own personal story of working with Catch22, along with employers who have experience in this area who will share best practice.
If you would like to find out more about how you can provide sustainable jobs and recruit from a diverse talent pool, please get in touch with our Employability team.
Virtual jobs fair for care leavers: Bright Light Programme
We are holding a virtual jobs fair on Employability Day for the young care leavers involved in our Bright Light programme. Our panel will give an overview of the types of roles and training that they offer and the different career pathways that this could lead to, along with the support that Bright Light can offer, before opening up the floor to our attendees to ask questions about entering the workforce.
Bright Light is a partnership project, delivered by Catch22 and The Children’s Society and funded by The Clothworkers Foundation, that focuses on getting care leavers into apprenticeships. It is one of the few projects that focuses on this difficult point of transition, stretching across their immediate needs, mental and emotional needs and their route to employment. The programme is exploring what more is needed to support care leavers into independence, and breaking down the real, and perceived, barriers that they face so that they can realise their potential.
Hearing from our referral partners and candidates
Throughout Employability Day we will be hearing from our referral partners and candidates on their experiences in lockdown, the challenges and benefits that it’s brought them and the support Catch22 has provided during this difficult time.
Melissa’s story
Melissa is a 20 year old young person who struggled to find the confidence to look for work during the 2020 lockdown, through support from her Catch22 Work Coach she has now applied for retail jobs, adapted her CV and is much more confident in her future.
Referral Partner: Sale Sharks
In this short clip we hear from Sale Sharks, Catch22’s referral partner, about their Advantage Programme in the North West. Catch22 and Sale Sharks work together to get young people on the Advantage Programme is an alternative to academic study, providing training programmes for young people who have left school but aren’t sure of their next step. Together we empower young people get into meaningful careers.
Catch22 Employability joins Facebook
We believe in high-quality, responsive employability programmes that are relevant to the needs and aspirations of learners, job seekers and employers. It’s important for people who use our services to have easy access to support materials and to feel comfortable with the people who they are working with.
That’s why, on Friday, we are launching our new Facebook group where our teams will be posting regular updates for those who use our employability services – or want to find out more before getting in touch. They’ll be sharing advice, tips, support and much more, so it is sure to be an excellent resource for those looking for support.