Restart Scheme
Karim came to the Restart Scheme as he had never been employed. He had been a carer for his mother since he was 14 years old, until she passed away 2 and a half years ago. His mother had always provided for him financially and socially, so Karim had never been exposed to the job market and had no understanding of his skills or the direction he wanted his career to go in.
Karim was assigned Leigh Oakley as his Job Coach, who worked with Karim to help him understand the expectations of potential employers and effective methods to job search. Since joining the Restart Scheme, Karim has become a regular voluntary attendee at the Pilot offices and is a prolific job searcher. He has attended numerous internal courses to progress and integrate into a job-based environment, including "Dealing with Conflict", "Job Search and Applying for Jobs" and "Skills Assessment and Identifying Job Goals" which was essential to establish what type of job role he would prefer the most.
After multiple one-to-one meetings, Leigh identified Karim still had issues regarding the passing of his mother, not processing his loss fully. As a result, Karim was referred to Cruse Bereavement Support for professional bereavement counselling to help him with this.
Karim undertook the support provided to him and continued his job search. After being invited to a work trial at Asda, Karim received an offer of employment as a Service Colleague, starting in December 2023. Both Karim and the team are delighted with the positive outcome and the team believe this development will help to improve his mental health as well giving him responsibilities.
This holistic approach has proven that the Restart Scheme can provide solutions to a wide range of barriers to employment.
