Member Article

Chelsea ‘Accelerates’ forward with new job

Being out of work for over a year had caused Chelsea to suffer from low self-esteem and contributed to sending her anxiety ‘through the roof’.

Money issues were starting to deepen and life as a single-parent meant she was struggling to get the time or focus needed to search for the right job, a frustration that built with many of her applications not even receiving a response.

After contacting the Accelerate project, the former administrator was assigned a Journey Guide to look at her situation and understand what barriers were stopping her from getting back into employment.

“Having someone to just listen and provide possible solutions straight away was a massive relief and helped push away some of those dark clouds,” explained Chelsea.

“I was in a rut and needed to get out of it so they referred me to the Sky Blues in the Community’s Sports Leadership programme, which was fantastic. It gave me some of my confidence back and helped me get active again, which is great for helping you come to terms with anxiety.”

She went on to add: “I completed the course and was presented with my certificate at half time during a Coventry City game at the Ricoh Arena. My young son came with me, he loved it.”

This was just the start of the support. Journey Guide Kate Henderson worked with Chelsea on updating her CV and making it more relevant to the roles she was applying for, whilst also completing a number of interview skills training sessions with her.

She attended a number of Accelerate Events and decided to gain volunteer experience at the Coventry Development Agency, which eventually led to a job offer.

“I couldn’t believe it when I got the phone call and was offered the part-time Administration role. They had been so impressed with my attitude and my determination to get back into work that they thought I’d be a valuable asset to the team. Hearing those words was amazing and a massive confidence lift,” continued Chelsea.

“I’m really enjoying my new role. I’m doing part time hours - spread over the week - so it fits in with looking after my little boy and picking him up from school.”

She concluded: “Accelerate has been great and now I’m glad I can give something back by helping people who have been in a similar position to myself.”

The £3m Accelerate project is part of ‘Building Better Opportunities’ programme, funded by the European Social Fund and the National Lottery, through the Big Lottery Fund.

It offers people from Coventry and Warwickshire individualised employment advice and support to break through some of the common barriers holding them back.

Each person is assigned a Journey Guide, who is responsible for working with them to design a tailor-made package of support that meets their individual requirements.

The ‘Journey Guide’ will connect them with the training and support they need, bringing in specialist partners along the way, and supporting them to access work experience and skills enhancement, including IT, Literacy, Numeracy and Enterprise training.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .