Mothers face additional barriers to work during the Pandemic – but the GRoW programme can help

Posted on by Liz Sewell

Liz Sewell, Director of the Get Ready for Work – GRoW- programme run by Belina Consulting

Finding a job is like buying a house, or having a baby, something that you don’t do all the time and that benefits from having expert help. The side effects of the Pandemic, like the closure of schools and the move to home educating, saw more mothers put their careers on hold and studies carried out during lockdown showed that working mothers were interrupted more often than fathers.  But women want to work, in fact even though we work with women who face additional barriers to work our own conversations have shown us that over half want to go back to work even more now than they did in March when lockdown started. And whilst getting children back to school has to be the priority for government, schools, families and employers, we have identified four areas where we can offer help.

More online Training

Home schooling has meant that many women now feel much more confident about online and blended learning so we have developed a digital training programme that works through partnerships with our local Colleges, an excellent ESOL provider Daily Steps and using the smart phone friendly courses provided by Digital College.

More part time work

Our weekly jobs bulletin provides access to part time work and helps people find the sort of jobs that allow them to work the hours that suit their families.

Upgrading Employability skills

At GRoW we have got an Autumn Schedule of activities that range from making your first CV to getting a Christmas job. Our programme goes out in our weekly newsletter sent to all members of the GRoW programme.

  • Need to improve your confidence, motivation and make your action plan – you need the GRoW programme
  • Want to upgrade your CV or Interview Skills –  our Wednesday Zoom and Noon sessions are for you
  • Want a weekly boost to your employment join our Friday Coffee mornings with speakers, and How to sessions will provide a great start to your weekend.

Better access to safe affordable high quality childcare

In our survey 100 women speak the  lack childcare was the biggest problem facing mothers prevents many from seeking better paid roles and blocks in-work progression. For lone parents it is an even bigger problem.  In a recent survey Gingerbread found that 41% of single parents struggle to afford childcare, compared with 14% of parents in couples. We are providing advice on spaces, funding and benefits.

If you are already part of the GRoW programme we are really excited to welcome you back. If you want to find our more about joining us and you are an unemployed or inactive mother and live in London contact us here.

Belina Get Ready for Work join IEP as Corporate Affiliate Partners

Posted on by heathercette

Belina Get Ready for Work are delighted to announce that we have joined the Institute of Employability Professionals as Corporate Affiliate Partners.

The IEP is the membership body for employability professionals. They are dedicated to supporting the people who support others gain work, progress in work and retain work.  IEP’s vision is ‘Employability professionals everywhere are the best they can be’ and their purpose is to empower individuals to perform to a professional standard, champion employability as a recognised profession, secure employer recognition and create a network of opportunity.

Belina Get Ready for Work is an award-winning Training & Development organisation running intensive confidence-building, motivation and employability programmes for women, their advisers and employers. They work across London on programmes for the DWP, EFSA, Community Fund and the MOJ. Belina run end to end programmes and offer specialist interventions, on their main employability programme and their retention rate at 26 weeks employment is 90%.

Partnership is at the heart of Belina’s approach, believing that it is by working together that they best support their participants. Their partnership with Canning Town Job Centre Plus has just been rewarded with a 2020 ERSA National Employability Award.

Speaking of joining the IEP, Belina Director Liz Sewell FIEP said; “As a Fellow of the IEP I get so much from being part of the IEP, I wanted my team to have that too – access to training, ideas and networks and more. During lockdown the IEP has offered individuals the chance to be part of the national debate and my team have lots to say and learn from that.”

“Belina’s vision is for a world where women feel confident about going back to work and realise the benefit to themselves and their children for the long term. Our innovative approach, as evidenced in our acclaimed GRoW Programme, is forged in mutual-respect and engagement and brings diverse communities together to nurture, learn from and support each other to help them determine their own lives and empower them to make a positive change.”

Belina are passionate about making women of all backgrounds and circumstances feel valued and resilient, and to help them use their transferrable skills to return to work. They help them realise the value of the skills they’ve gained as parents and show them how those skills can translate into a meaningful long-term career.

Belina’s experienced team work closely with women to build their confidence and raise their aspirations so they can consider a life beyond day-to-day survival. They help identify what they really enjoy about their current lives and what they want to change; challenge their perceptions of the barriers they face and encourage them to embark on a new and positive journey, taking small steps to improve their lives and think about what they want to achieve. 9 of Belina’s 11 staff came through their GRoW programme and have the same lived experience as the people they support – women with complex barriers to work.

Since 2004 Belina have helped improve the employability, skills and prospects of thousands of women, offering an open service to all and providing tailored support to address people’s specific needs.

They currently have active programmes supporting women in Hillingdon, Newham, Islington and Croydon and have created partnerships with Local Government, Housing Associations, Family Information Services, Child Poverty Teams, Employability Services, DWP, Children’s Centres, Charities, local schools, Job Centre Plus and agencies and organisations including London Development Agency, Uxbridge College, Gingerbread, Paddington Development Trust and Outreach Services to help our participants access support from the wider community.

Belina offer a range of support and run regular events with their partners and participants offering advice around issues such as Universal Credit and to develop skills and education through courses such as ESOL, retail, employability, leadership skills and IT. They also engage with employers to help their participants gain practical advice about what is available in the workplace.

http://www.getreadyforwork.org

Gemma passes her GRoW Lockdown course

Posted on by heathercette

In May we published an article about our fantastic GRoW mum Gemma who was one of the first GRoW participants to undertake our Lockdown Training Programme and we are delighted to congratulate Gemma on now passing her course!

Gemma began the course at the start of Lockdown, in a bid to improve her employability skills and open up new opportunities once her young son returns to school in September.  She decided to undertake the Level 2 Introduction to Caring for Children and Young People which is an online course that Strive Training were running as part of the GRoW Lockdown Training Programme.

Gemma said: “Being able to take the course from home in my own time was really useful as I could fit it around my son while he was at home.

“I found the course really good, though I must admit it was hard to juggle with homeschooling.  When the last day of term came things got much easier as I was able to then concentrate more time on the course.  Some modules were harder than others and I was having to use skills I haven’t used since High School!  I had a great tutor though who told me I was doing really well and she helped me get through it more easily.  She helped me work harder and do better, pushing me to answer questions more fully. What was really useful was that she would give me examples rather than just telling me the answers.  This helped me to think for myself and better understand what was being asked of me.

“We communicated through Whatsapp mainly which was really easy to do and she gave me such great support throughout, checking I was doing the work correctly and advising me on whether I needed to elaborate or provide more information for certain sections.

“I’m really looking forward to putting my new qualification into practice now and have already started applying for jobs in schools.  I would eventually like to work as a Teaching Assistant so maybe I could even do some volunteering in a school first to help me get my foot in the door. I could then look at doing a Teaching Assistant Course once I have some more experience under my belt.”