Kate Liddle, Service Manager on the Refugee Employability Programme in GC-Employment first joined GC in 2015 when she TUPE-d across from the Northern Refugee Centre due to the charity closing.
Kate’s original role was as a Specialist Employment Advisor on the Work Programme, working with a caseload of refugees and EU migrants. Kate then applied to be an Employer Engagement Consultant on the Work Programme in Sheffield and worked in this role until the end of the contract.
From here, Kate applied to be a Business Advisor on the ESF-funded Skills Support for the Workforce contract in 2019 and worked in this role throughout the pandemic.
When it was announced that GC had been successful in the tender for the Restart scheme, Kate successfully applied for the role of Lead Employment Advisor at the Rotherham office, which she started on the 1st April 2022.
Within three months of starting the role, the team’s Service Manager left the Rotherham office and Kate applied for and worked as a temporary Service Manager between June 2022 and March 2023. Kate then went back to her Lead Employment Adviser role on the Rotherham team and applied to work as a permanent Service Manager on the new Refugee Employability Programme for Yorkshire, funded by the Home Office.
Kate said, ‘It feels brilliant to be working with refugees again and rebuilding the connections I originally made. I attended the Yorkshire Migration Festival in Sheffield on Saturday 30th September and enjoyed promoting the wonderful support offered by the Refugee Employability Programme’.
Alex Howley, Director for Youth and Careers at the Growth Company, explained, ‘Kate has progressed into a Service Manager role during her time at the Growth Company, and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of working with refugees to the new Refugee Employability Programme, which is invaluable to the team’.