When Ben Stott found himself homeless and living in a hostel he struggled to imagine himself ever finding a job.
Now, thanks to charity Home Group’s Inspiring Futures programme, Ben, who lives in Boughton, Chester, is a full-time working apprentice ready to begin studying towards an NVQ in social care.
Ben, 27, explained: “For a brief time earlier last year, I was a client of Home Group’s at a hostel in Northwich. Because I was homeless, I was in a negative mind-set and felt like I was stuck in a vicious circle with no way out.”
It was during this time that Ben started to learn more about Home Group’s services. Through his dedicated support worker, he was given help and guidance on how to move his life forward in a positive direction.
“It was when I lived in the hostel that I first heard about Home Group’s apprenticeship programme. I decided to look into it further so went online and phoned to get some more information.”
“After being homeless and finding it so difficult to move on, I wanted to try to help people in the same situation by offering clients the same kind of support that helped me.”
Ben has since secured a position as an apprentice at Home Group based in Chester city centre. In his new role he shadows support workers, helps staff with on-going tasks and works with clients to help them achieve ‘move on’.
Ben continued: “I enjoy the challenge each day of dealing with different scenarios. I like to get involved with different things and support staff as and when I’m needed. I’m learning new things every day.”
Over the next 12 months, Ben will work towards an NVQ level 2 in social care with the hope of being offered a permanent position as a support worker once he’s completed the scheme.
He added: “Having the opportunity to do the scheme has helped change my views on getting into work. At the start of the year I thought that I would never have a chance of finding employment as I had been out of work for so long. Now I have a very positive view on how things are going and for my future.”
Home Group is a national charity, one of the UK’s largest developers of homes for sale and affordable rent and regards itself as 'a leader' in long-term integrated housing, health and care. Susan Coulson, director of People at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne-based social enterprise, said: “We pride ourselves on the inclusive culture and wide range of benefits that we offer our colleagues here at Home Group, and our apprenticeship scheme is no exception. We currently pay significantly more than the national minimum apprenticeship wage and we encourage people of all ages to develop their skills and experiences with us. “Additionally, many of our opportunities are offered exclusively to customers who live in our homes or access our supported services, to ensure we are doing everything we can to support them on their journey to independence. Seeing people grow in confidence and realise their potential is something we get to experience a lot here at Home Group, and we feel incredibly privileged to play a part in that.” For more information about the apprenticeship programme, click on this link. |
