Press Release: Dagenham teenager David Rose hits the turf after 15 months unemployment

For teenager David Rose, the grass is definitely greener now that he’s found his dream job.

The football fan has landed a post as an apprentice groundsman at Dagenham and Redbridge FC after being given a chance break by a local charity.

David, who had been unemployed for 15 months since leaving school, had applied to the club for a job, but was disappointed when he did not get a reply.

So when he was referred to Barking Lifeline, a sub-contractor of the Work Programme through public service provider A4e in east London, he was intrigued when his adviser asked him if he liked football.

“She said that there was voluntary work going at Dagenham and Redbridge FC - the very club I had applied for. It was definitely a foot in the door,”

The club needed volunteers and David was happy to get involved, as he was convinced that while he was looking for work it would be great experience.

But after just a few weeks he was in for a surprise.

He explained: “The club administrator took me to one side and said they had an opportunity for me to become an apprentice groundsman. I couldn’t believe it. It was the very job I’d wanted.”

The club had been waiting for a volunteer they trusted and David had stood out from the six other volunteers that Barking Lifeline had sent over.

Now David is right at home at the club and has high ambitions for the future. As part of his training, the club has arranged for David to study at the respected Writtle agricultural college in Essex.

“I’d love to be a groundsman for a top flight footie club,” he said.

David’s success also defies news this week that core NEETs - young people not in employment, education or training for more than 12 months – were among those worst-hit by the recession.

The Hidden Talents report by the Local Government Association (LGA) said this group of young people were growing at a faster rate than any other.

Core NEETs cost the country £4,600 per person a year in benefits and lost tax, yet the LGA claimed national approaches to help young people were "failing to get to grips with local issues".

However, defying the grim statistics, David added: “I’m determined and I’m definitely now going in the right direction.”

 “The club administrator has since told me my first application is probably still in a pile of other CVs he hasn’t got round to looking at yet.

“I don’t know if I would have found out about the voluntary work without Lifeline but it really helped. It all happened so quickly too.”

Skilled advisers at Barking Lifeline offer free one to one support across East London through the Work Programme, including information, advice and guidance, CV workshops, job search, customized training opportunities and assistance with applications and interview skills.

Notes for Editors:

For further information or to arrange an interview and photographs of David, please contact Jane Kerr, A4e Regional Media Relations Manager at jkerr@A4e.co.uk or on 0207 009 3859 and 07843 036990.

Barking Lifeline became a subcontractor of the Work Programme through A4e, funded by ESF, the DWP, and the Mayor of London. Delivery of this mandatory programme to residents of the London Boroughs of Havering, Redbridge and Barking & Dagenham commenced in 2011.For further information, contact http://www.lifelineprojects.co.uk

A4e Skills Customers make sure 'Every Penny Counts'...

You & Me: A4e's Advisor Amy Moore and her customer Andrew give you an insight into their work life together

In our new montly feature, we hear from a customer and their advisor to see both sides of what we do at A4e...

Amy Moore is a Work Programme Advisor based in Sheffield. She's been helping customer Andrew Brixton- who describes himself as 'hearing suppressed'- in his search for employment.

Andrew Says: I spent five years looking for work with different employment agency and they didn't help me move forward in any way. I ended up so frustrated I had arguments with the staff. When I was referred to A4e, I expected the same. Amy was different from the very beginning. We've learnt how best to communicate together and she has even learnt some bits of sign language from me, which is great. I think in some ways I've taught her as much as she's taught me! I want to improve my speech alongside my sign language, as I know some people struggle to understand me. I really want to work alongside people who can hear. Amy is helping me do that and I'm getting a lot more confident. I know that with Amy helping me I will find a great job with people who appreciate what I have to offer.

Amy Says: Before I met Andrew I was a little worried. I had never worked with someone with hearing difficulties before and was worried how we would communicate. But Andrew is a determined man and we have found ways to work together to overcome the problem. When we first met, all he asked was that I spoke clearly so that he could lip read. He doesn't see his lack of hearing as a problem and now I don't either. If I don't understand something Andrew is trying to tell me, he just writes it down. We work as a team when it comes to job searching. He finds suitable vacancies and I contact the employer to organise interviews on his behalf. He wants to become a mini bus driver and I'm arranging funding for a PSV license in order to help him get a step closer to achieve this goal

A4e wish both Amy and Andrew all the best of luck!!

Clarifications in the Press: A4e's Communications Director, Chris Philipsborn on the A4e Allegations

LETTERS

A4e allegations

A4E REFUTES all allegations

that it has acted dishonestly as a

company, although obviously a

company with 3,500 employees

can’t guarantee no one individual

has not acted unlawfully in

relation to its business.

But the suggestion that the

company connived at ‘forged

signatures, fake paperwork,

bogus training schemes’ and

other dishonesty to hoodwink

the Department of Work and

Pensions or obtain unjustified

payments of public money will

not stand up to scrutiny.

We welcome the DWP’s audit

of our operations (announced

in March) and will provide it

with every assistance. The

Thames Valley police inquiry

arose from the company’s own

i n t e r n a l p r o c e d u r e s ,

immediately reported to the

DWP in 2010. I hope those

making the allegations will

come forward and make them

to the DWP audit, so they can

be fully examined.

CHRIS PHLIPSBORN,

Director of Communications,

A4e, Sheffield.

Reproduced

(Letter published in the Daily Mail on the 08th May 2012)

A4e Press Release: NEW EXHIBITION SEES SIX HAMPSHIRE ARTISTS COME TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME

A Hampshire artist who has recalled his childhood in Sierra Leone to produce an extraordinary collection of paintings is to exhibit his work for the first time.

Hugely talented Humphrey Williams is hoping the exhibition will mark a turning point in his career after battling to overcome tragedy, poor health and unemployment.

He is among six Hampshire artists who have joined together to showcase their talents with an exhibition in Winchester next week. They have been brought together by A4e, the public service provider which delivers the Government’s Work Programme across Hampshire.

Their talents were recognised by A4e enterprise coach Thomas Brown after they were referred to the Work programme, which aims to help unemployed people find jobs, training or set up their own businesses.

The eclectic mix that will go on show features Humphrey Williams exotic paintings, Jackson Pollock-inspired abstracts by artist Gary McQuillan, sculptures by trained stonemason Jon Morley, fine art by Arielle Klobusiczky and Malcolm Macdougall and stained glass by Emma Karim-Ellis.*

But behind the exhibition lie six extraordinary stories of the artists.

Although Humphrey, 54, hasn’t visited West Africa since he was 10 years old, his paintings of children playing in Freetown vividly capture memories of what he regards as “the happiest time of my life.”

He said: “At the age of three, after my West African father and English mother split up, I was taken to Sierra Leone to live with my paternal grandparents. It was the best time of my life, the most stable, the most loving. One of my paintings shows two boys sitting on a boat.

“We used to sit on boats in Freetown harbour and some of the boys would jump off into the sea and climb onto the turtles. The trick was to see how long you could hold onto the turtles to see how deep they’d take us.”

Humphrey returned to Andover with his sister when he was 10 and endured what he says was an unsettled and miserable childhood, blighted by racism and dyslexia. His only escape was his talent for drawing – a passion which, after a series of part-time, dead-end jobs and a failed marriage, finally led to him – at the age of X - taking a three-year degree in Fine Art at Loughborough University. He has also become an accomplished photographer and ceramist.

However, after suffering a heart attack and later diagnosed with osteoporosis, he has been out of work for nearly three years.

The exhibition, he hopes, will provide the big break he needs. “Times have been hard and it’s a constant struggle to survive,” said Humphrey, “I’d rather be working and support myself. I feel I have all this talent and creative ideas going to waste. I am hoping that out of this exhibition I will find an employer or someone who can help me get a little bit of business going so I can support myself.”

Exhibition organiser Thomas Brown said: “The idea came together after I realised that I had six very talented artists as customers who all needed a chance to show what they could do.

“Already they’ve shown how motivated and enthusiastic they are for this exhibition to work. They are really excited about this opportunity and I hope many people in Hampshire will come along and see the exhibition and meet the extraordinary individuals behind it.”

“Six Hampshire Artists” runs from April 30 to May 4 between 1pm-3pm daily at the A4e Winchester office, Ground Floor, Regency House, 2-4,

Southgate Street, Winchester SO23 9PW

.

Notes to Editors:

You are invited to a media day, where you will be able to interview and photograph the artists and view their work, on Tuesday May 1 at 1pm. For further information and to arrange interviews, please contact Jane Kerr, A4e Regional Media Relations Manager on T: 0207 009 3859 or M: 07843 036990.

A4e

A4e is a leading public service provider, serving thousands of people across three continents – Europe, Australasia and Asia. A4e’s core mission is to improve people’s lives.  We work in partnership with governments, public sector organisations, private sector companies and voluntary and community groups to delivers a range of front line public services, including employment and welfare, training and education, and money and legal advice. For more information please visit www.mya4e.com/about/facts-figures

A4e in the Press: A4e customers show just how eager they are to work

THESE six people have a clear message for Derbyshire's employers: we want to work!

All of them have skills. All of them have enthusiasm. All of them just need someone to give them a chance.

​

Robert McPherson, Lisa Giwa, Anthony Smith, Jacqueline Hughes, Deborah Wylie and Lauren Clough are among the 17,000 Derbyshire people who are currently looking for employment but, with the city's jobless total running at a 15-year high, their efforts so far have been in vain.
They are already receiving help from advisers at A4E, an organisation that offers a variety of training schemes to help boost people's chances of finding work.
Now the Derby Telegraph hopes that by highlighting their cases potential employers will come forward to offer them interviews ... and hope.

Read Full Article on: http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/ready-willing-need-chance/story-16030922-detail/story.html

A4e presentation at the Hampshire job club help dispel the myths...

"Many thanks to Neil and Sam from A4e who came to help dispel the myths and to explain what A4e does, what the Work Programme is and how they can help members in their job transition period."

North West Hampshire Job Club