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.