South Tyneside residents find employment opportunities through New Start scheme
An innovative employability project has been hailed as a success in South Tyneside.
New Start, a paid work placement scheme funded by South Tyneside Council, is celebrating the success of 19 local social housing residents who have completed work placements through the scheme.
The residents were offered five-month paid opportunities with nine local employers.
To hail the success of the scheme, the residents and employers took part in a celebration event at Hedworth Hall, in South Shields.
During the event, the New Start team were able to showcase the impact of the programme on forging new employment opportunities and highlight some of the success stories from the last year.
Jabir and Rashida Ali, a husband and wife pairing from South Shields, have both been able to find work after taking part in the New Start programme.
Jabir initially started as an administration assistant at RE:GEN Green, and was promoted during his placement to a Design and Compliance Officer.
He said: “I was applying for lots of jobs but wasn’t getting anywhere.
“The New Start team were able to help me look at how my knowledge and experience in the construction industry could be an advantage in interviews and helped me find a great opportunity.
“I was able to use the administration role to showcase my skills which helped me get the promotion.
“New Start has done what it’s said it’s going to do and a lot more.”
Rashida had been out of work after taking a career break to raise her children. Through New Start, she was able to get a role as an Administration Assistant at South Tyneside Council.
She commented: “I had lost the confidence to go back to work.
“With New Start I was able to meet employers before I interviewed for the job and make sure the role would fit around my childcare needs.
“When I met Karen from South Tyneside Council I knew this was where I wanted to work for.
“Karen and the team have helped to build my confidence.”
The New Start scheme was funded by the UK Government through South Tyneside Council and has been developed in partnership with local housing association, Karbon Homes and the Housing Employment Network North East (HENNE).
Participants on the New Start scheme are offered one-to-one support from an employment advisor during the recruitment process and their role in an effort to help them get the most from their experience and look at how they can potentially turn the placement into a long career.
Philip Pollard, Assistant Director of Customer and Community Engagement at Karbon, has expressed his delight at the organisation being able to get involved with the scheme.
He added: “Helping our customers and communities to thrive is a key aim for Karbon and providing employment support that helps residents to reach their full potential and helps local economies to prosper, plays an important role in this.
“We’re thrilled that through New Start we’ve been able to create life changing employment pathways for residents, supporting them through the barriers they face and challenging recruitment practices, empowering change to give real people a chance to shine.”
Since its launch, 252 work placements have been created due to the New Start scheme.
After completing a placement, over 100 social housing residents have gone on to secure employment, 20 have moved into further education and more than 95 have moved into a new placement.
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