Jobseekers in Brighton are being given a helping hand to get back to work after the coronavirus pandemic.
We are delivering the government’s Restart Scheme in the city. And we officially opened our new office at Ovest House on West Street on Friday 1 April.
The Restart Scheme is helping people who have been out of work for nine months or longer to pick up skills for the modern workplace, fill local vacancies, and get the experience and confidence to find a suitable job and build sustainable careers.
Our frontline team are on hand to help with everything from updating CVs to tackling health concerns and impressing at interviews to launching new start-up businesses.
The team are already working with some of the region’s leading employers, including Thames Water, Royal Mail, XPO Logistics, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. And since Fedcap began delivering the scheme last year, it has supported more than 2,700 people across the South Central area of England to successfully find new jobs.
The Brighton team have already supported dozens of customers into work and recently helped their customer, Daniel, secure a new job after being left homeless for six years. Daniel is over the moon to be working again and shared his inspirational story with guests at the event.
He said: “Having been a successful Hospitality Manager a turn of bad luck meant that I lost my home and was homeless for six years. Being quite a proud man, it took a lot for me to ask for help. As you can imagine there were a number of barriers I had to overcome: the stigma of having been homeless and the unconscious bias of potential employers, personal confidence having been out of employment for so long.
“With the amazing support from my advisers, I have now secured a job as an Apprentice Assessment and Reconnection Officer for St. Mungo’s, in the sector I wanted to move to working within, for an organisation I am passionate about, doing a job where I will be helping others. Having left rough sleeping, to having my own home again, to fitting the final piece of the jigsaw of rebuilding my life by returning to work, all in one year, feels amazing, is sustainable and Fedcap and the Restart Scheme have been integral in allowing me to fulfil my potential and get to this point.”
The new Brighton office was officially opened by the Director of The Institute for Employment Studies, Tony Wilson.
Tony said: “It’s great to see this new centre opening and to hear from people who have already had their lives changed through the Restart Scheme. With twice as many people long-term unemployed as before the pandemic, a looming cost of living crisis and yet record levels of vacancies, the work of Fedcap and its partners has never been more urgent or important.”
Brian Bell, Chief Executive at Fedcap Employment, said: “We’re very happy with the start we’ve made here in Brighton but there are thousands more people we’re here to support. We’re not about quick fixes or revolving doors, rather making a long-term positive impact to people and the community.”
