Greater Manchester residents get employment boost with launch of ground-breaking IPS Programme
Our breakthrough Individual Placement and Support (IPS) programme will help GM residents experiencing mental health problems to recover and find work. The programme will formally launch on 1st April.
Greater Manchester IPS will run for three years from April 2024 and is open to anyone in the region whose employment prospects are impacted by several mental illness.
A team of dedicated IPS specialists will work to bridge the gap between healthcare and employment, liaising with employers, employees, and jobseekers to sustain employment and seek new pathways into the world of work. This approach will enable clients to feel more confident about the future, positively impacting their everyday life.
GC Employment will deliver the programme alongside Pure Innovations and PossAbilities.
Alex Howley, Operations Director at the Growth Company, said:
“We are committed to providing person-centred, tailored support to help people into sustained employment while recognising and supporting their individual needs.
“We are looking forward to working with our partners to deliver the Greater Manchester IPS programme, an invaluable service that will break down barriers to employment faced by individuals experiencing mental health issues.”
Pure Innovation’s Chief Executive Officer, Louise Parrott-Bates, commented:
“Pure Innovations has a long history of successful partnership work and we’re delighted to team up with the Growth Company and PossAbilities, who collectively bring a wealth of experience supporting those most in need across the North West.
“We know that employment can lead to a healthy, ambitious life and our shared vision will ensure the right support is in place to fulfill this.”
Rachel Law, Chief Executive Officer for PossAbilities, added:
“Finding and sustaining work is one of the best things people can do when living with mental ill health.
“We are proud that we have been able to support people to do this over recent years, and excited about accelerating this work with our partners Pure Innovations and the Growth Company.”
Sally Jameson, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Doncaster Central, visited our Doncaster Office
On Thursday 7th March, Sally Jameson visited our Doncaster Office to find out more about our services.
She visited for an hour and got to know about Restart, our Refugee Employability Programme and our Adult Education Budget offer across South Yorkshire.
We discussed some of the current challenges we're facing with moving people into sustainable employment, but also highlighted the incredible work our advisors do on a daily basis to improve peoples lives.
Pictured above with Sally left-right are Karen Wheatley (Regional Account Manager, Business Development - GC Ed&Skills), Sharon Oates (Service Manager, Restart - South Yorkshire) and Jonathan Slater (from Maximus, who are our prime contractor for Restart).
Cycling group launched for the Merseyside PWB service
This cycling for wellbeing group is for our service users and is facilitated by two of our wellbeing key workers: Christopher Cheng and Ian McHale.
Ian and Chris have developed a great working relationship with Merseyside Police, who have been donating mountain bikes (which may have been confiscated as a result of criminal behaviours and activities) and are fully serviced before being used.
They then give the bikes to HMP Risley, who have them serviced by inmates (who are all trained and qualified). The bikes are then used by our service users, all of whom are men on probation.
Ian and Chris (featured in the photo above) are trained as cycle leaders and have their full first aid at work qualifications as well. Other colleagues are welcome to get involved, and we fully anticipate some of the team may want to join the group in the summer months.
Aspire in Partnership, GC Employment and United Utilities hosted a unique peer-to-peer colleague network event
On Wednesday 13th March, we invited chairs and leads of colleague representative groups to a three hour event in Lingley Green bringing together ERG and EDI leaders from across the North West - this included many of our very own GC EDI Network chairs.
In the session they discussed common challenges that organisations face with their Diversity & Inclusion agenda and took away fresh perspectives and new ideas which they could implement in their own organisations to help them become more inclusive.
They particularly welcomed anyone involved in the following groups in their place of employment:
- Race & Ethnicity
- Health & Wellbeing/Disability/Neurodivergence
- LGBTQ+
- Women/Gender
- Parents/Carers
The main speaker for the event was David Pearson, who is a Principal Consultant at Pinsent Masons. David has years of experience in the D&I space and has led a staff network at KPMG for over seven years.
