Inspiring Families
To protect the privacy of our customers we use alias names in success stories.
Ian is 53 years old and has worked in a variety of jobs for over 20 years: he was a baker; a builder and a maintenance person for TfL.
In 2015 Ian was made redundant from his job and started to lose his confdence. He tried many routes to employment since then, but all without results. He got caught in what he calls the “politics of being unemployed…running here, running there” going from course to course and from employment provider to employment provider. He felt that he was being sent on courses that he didn’t need, and felt that his ambitions weren’t being listened to at all. This was until he came across Renaisi and joined Inspiring Families.
Inspiring Families is a programme designed to help individuals facing multiple and complex family issues to get back into work. It is funded by the European Union through the European Social Fund. Renaisi is part of Serco’s network of expert organisations chosen to deliver this programme on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
The experience he had with Renaisi was different. Ian’s advisor built a programme of support tailored around his needs and past experiences. Ian began to feel that self-employment would be the next step forward and since then he has focused his job goals on a select few areas. Ian said “everywhere else I was overspreading myself…I’d go for six different things and hope to get something. Now I’m focusing on just two, and there are loads more opportunities coming up.”
Ian feels at ease in the Renaisi offce. It’s a welcoming, relaxed and productive environment. “Renaisi is completely different. When I go there I speak to everybody. If someone looks at me they say, ‘alright mate’…it’s a bit… friendlier, more human. Now that I’ve done this employability programme I can see a bit of a pattern. I can choose what I want to go for. So I do feel a bit calmer…I feel like things are taking shape…I don’t know what I was doing wrong before but I know what I am doing right now.”
Ian has started work in January 2018 with the continued support from his Employment Adviser and the rest of the Renaisi team.
Serco delivers the Inspiring Families programme in Haringey, Hackney, Enfield, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Greenwich, Barking & Dagenham and Havering.
Individuals living in North and East London can contact us for more details and to find out if they are eligible for support through the Inspiring Families programme.
