Impact Newsletter - April 2023

JETS shares legacy report: Working through a pandemic

Our incredible Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) service came to an end this month after two years supporting people during unprecedented times. JETS provided a rapid response to meet the needs of the thousands of people who suddenly found themselves out of work, and out of an industry.

Our report looks back at the amazing – and award winning! – work of our teams across the business who mobilised and delivered exceptional support in exceptional times. Find out how the programme enabled better lives for so many by downloading the report on our website.

What’s inside...

Page 2

Celebrating one year of Mental Health First Aid

Page 3 Karl takes the ‘write’ path to support others

Celebrating one year of Mental Health First Aid Accreditations

Ingeus’ Learning & Development team are celebrating 12 months of delivering Mental Health First Aid training to our teams.

We’re committed to keeping the conversation around mental health and wellbeing open and active. Our culture is built on inclusivity, and we prioritise ensuring that our colleagues are happy, healthy, and comfortable at work.

Since April 2022, 223 colleagues from all areas of the business have become

MHFAiders, with at least one course a month being made available to staff. Currently, nearly 50 colleagues are signed up to the course from now until the end of July. Well done to all of those who have gained their accreditations so far.

Michail Kyriakou, Restart Advisor in Central and West London said: “The course was invaluable in developing my understanding of mental health conditions and how to respond to emergency mental health situations. The course was brilliantly taught, including a variety of case studies, group discussions, practical tasks and role play. The cohort was highly inclusive and supportive of each other

during our learning, especially when past experiences of mental health were shared with the group.”

Tracy Taylor, Team Manager for Work and Health Programme in Cumbria said: “The course gave me a deeper understanding into mental health (particularly around suicide), the inspiration to help others and the knowledge of how to spot the various signs of mental health difficulties and how to intervene.”

If you would like to find out more about Ingeus careers and how we strive to make a positive difference, visit the Careers page on our website.

Back row, from left: Roger Simpson, David Wright, Laura Maisey, Les Hooper, Carla Graterol Bohorquez, Ellie Haworth, Rachael Maclean, Kyle Cryne. Front Row, from left: Amanda Gilmore, Danielle Dawson, Amanda Luke.

Karl takes the 'write' path to support others

Serving a prison sentence in 2021, writing became a lifeline as well as a hobby for Karl. Now released, the 49-yearold’s starting a new chapter in his life. He’s not only published his first book, but is also becoming a CRS volunteer peer mentor for Ingeus – supporting and inspiring others who are going through the justice system.

Ingeus works with the probation service and charity partners to deliver Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS), helping ex-offenders reintegrate into their communities. Support ranges from personal wellbeing to accessing education, training and employment.

Karl, who now lives in Staffordshire, was introduced to CRS’s peer mentoring scheme by his probation officer, Ava.

“It’s a huge thing to come out of prison,” says Karl. “If I can give someone else the same kind of support that I received then I’ll be happy. I get pleasure out of helping people and it’s about using my lived experience to support them fully.”

Karl retired from teaching after 18 years in 2016 due to mental ill health. In 2019 he attempted suicide and just

19 months later he was sentenced to a year in prison.

Moving between three prisons during that time, his love of writing flourished in HMP Oakwood. With encouragement from Ava, he has since self-published his own book, and been awarded a commendation with the Koestler Arts Awards.

He explains, “Everything feels like it’s just fitted into place. Ava mentioned Ingeus and peer mentoring to me and at the same time I published my book, ‘A Short Sentence’.

“Writing is like my self-care, and while I was in prison I shared my poems with some of the other lads and they said reading them really helped them too. It was so rewarding to know I was helping others. And now they’re published, I sit and read some of the reviews online when I’m having a notso-good day and it lifts me to know my poetry is making a positive difference to even more people.”

As a peer mentor, Karl will work with ex-offenders just released from prison. He completed his training in December with Jade Taylor, Peer Mentor Lead, and hopes he will be supporting individuals with their mental health. He’s particularly looking forward to leading ‘Hope and Transition’ sessions.

“Everything in life is about hope and transition,” explains Karl. “I didn’t like me before I went to prison. I’ve had to accept that I made a mistake and give myself permission to move on.

“Through peer mentoring I will give the time and listening ear that people need. I will be non-judgemental and non-confrontational, supporting people as they transition in their lives.

“You can’t know the pain anyone else goes through, but I needed people to support me. Now it’s my turn to give that help to others.”

To find out more about our specialist rehabilitative services, visit www.ingeus.co.uk/justice

Equality in the Workplace

Did you know?

Equality is about making sure everyone is equal in terms of status, rights and opportunities.

120,000

More than Workers from minority ethnic backgrounds have quit their jobs because of racism

65% believe their age works against them when applying for jobs

Compared with lower paid employees, higher earners experience a much larger difference in hourly pay between the sexes

Approximately 1 in 5 people of working age

in the UK have a disability

How you can ensure equality is promoted in your workplace

Introduce

Workplace Champions

who can monitor and support employees with equality

Equality and Diversity training

Provide for all staff members

Schedule regular surveys to hear whether employees feel there are equal opportunities and how effective your policies are

Check that your processes and policies comply with

The Equality Act 2010

Ingeus takes more steps to champion the voice of young people

We’re delighted to announce that we are now a member of the British Youth Council joining a network of over 180 organisations to champion the voice of young people and improve their lives!

The British Youth Council are working to create a world where every young person is empowered to create social and political change. They work with young people aged 25 and under to inspire them to get involved in their communities and take action on areas that affect them.

We look forward to all the opportunities for improvement this membership will bring, including networking, training and social action. Learn more at www.byc.org.uk

Valentina lives out Italian dream with help of Restart scheme

Setting up a new business can be a daunting task with many potential pitfalls, so Valentina knew she needed specialist advice to help her get a ‘pizza’ the action!

We shared a video on our social media platforms about how Valentina was supported by Ingeus and partner Momentic under the Restart Scheme to live out her Italian dream. Head to our social media or YouTube channel to watch the full video.

After losing her job as a waitress due to the pandemic, mum-of-two Valentina began to dream of opening her own Italian takeaway in Manchester.

Able Futures team educate on managing relationships at work

_Relationships in the workplace.

Able Futures, delivering the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service

One of our Able Futures Vocational Rehabilitation Specialists, Siobhan Cooper, delivered a webinar where she gave an overview of how communication issues can affect the culture of your workplace and how relationships are formed, with advice on building assertiveness and developing your communication skills to help in your work environment.

Sign up to watch the recording or find the link on our social media channels.

FutureYou shares tips for networking

Networking

If you’re unsure on how to start networking or how to make it effective, don’t worry. Our FutureYou team recently shared an article with actionable tips and examples to help get you started.

The tips from the FutureYou team included:

1. Ice-breakers

2. Be excitable

3. Quality, not quantity

4. Being young doesn’t have to be a disadvantage

5. Follow up

You can read more about how to network effectively in the full article on the FutureYou website

Managing relationships with colleagues and clients at work can be challenging, and people’s varied communication styles can lead to times where workplace relationships make us feel stressed.

is an important way to boost confidence and open the door to new opportunities.

Restart scheme team knock it out the park with Wellbeing event

The Restart scheme team recently ran a successful Health, Wellbeing and You event in Manchester.

We received some excellent feedback from those who attended:

Firstly, I wanted to thank you for having me at the Health and Wellbeing Event today. Thanks for your time and making me feel so welcome throughout the day. It was a great event and it is so nice to see how much support the participants have available thanks to your hard work!

Andy Milne, Better Health Generation

Wayne Hardy, a Work Coach from Openshaw Jobcentre said: “I just wanted to let you know that the morning was fantastic. It was great to see so many providers in attendance and get to know a little more about how they can help. These events are really useful and just shows how much support is out there.”

Well done to the whole team!

Getting to know you...

We asked Andy a range of life’s essentials this or that questions:

Summer or Winter?

Summer

Chocolate or sweets?

Sweets

Night or morning?

Night

City or countryside?

City

This month, we’re shining a spotlight on Andy Tatham, Digital Business Partner for our Employment and Youth divisions.

“I’ve been with Ingeus for over 10 years having started as an advisor on the Work Programme in 2012. I’ve gone from making a difference to people’s lives in one-to-one appointments to now being able implement and drive digital services, systems and processes to support our teams making these differences.

As a Digital Business Partner, I work closely with the businesses Senior Leadership Team, identifying and understanding business

strategy, processes and priorities, and championing these within the Ingeus Digital team and direct supply chain. I also work with the business and wider Digital team to drive increased usage of our solutions, driving continuous improvement including customer experience.

The role delivers across all business commissioners, internal teams, partners, supply chain and participants for the business.”

Cats or dogs?

Cats

Dressed up or casual?

Casual

Phone calls or emails?

Phone calls

Books or films?

Films

Night out or night in?

Night out

Holidays or home comforts?

Home comforts

Andy Tatham, Digital Business Partner for our Employment and Youth divisions