The 12 Months of Motiv8
January We started the year on a high! Shortlisted as finalists for 2 prestigious awards:
UKHA - Resident employment and training award category
Tpas Awards - Excellence in Employment, Skills & Training
February We had a great meeting with the Through the Gate team from HMP Forest Bank to discuss our mutual work in getting people back on track. (Since then we have supported 49 people from HMP Forest Bank through our Motiv8 programme.)
Our development team also had a great meeting with job centre coaches in Oldham to share information about Motiv8. Great teamwork.
Motiv8 is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and the European Social Fund
March We received great feedback from one of our referring agencies. Thank you @Sam_Noble_ for your kind words and spreading the word about our #Motiv8GM programme.
And then of course came ‘lockdown’ and lots of challenges for everyone as we tried to find a way to continue to deliver our programme - which we have done throughout the pandemic. Most of our support is currently delivered via telephone, but we continue to deliver our programme and work with those who need our support.
April There have been some great examples of partnership working during these challenging times. We particularly want to thank all of the foodbanks and other organisations that have been helping our participants - and also letting us put our leaflets in their bags to spread the word about our programme.
Pictured is one of the team from Wythenshawe Food Bank @wythfoodbank@trusselltrust
May Michelle, one of our Motiv8 participants, shared her poem with us:
The View from Here.
She got a certificate of achievement from the University of Reading for it too! Fantastic poem and great achievement Michelle!
June
Motiv8 Performance Summary
By June this year, Motiv8 had supported over 3,500 people to get back on track. (It’s over 4,000 now!)
Here is our summary @June 2020.
We also calculated that, as a result of working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, Motiv8 has reduced its carbon footprint.
By the end of the first lockdown, we estimated that Motiv8 colleagues had saved around 45,000 miles - equivalent to reducing our carbon footprint by 13 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
July In July, as the first national lockdown ended, we were able to undertake some essential visits for participants - ensuring social distancing and PPE was used of course.
We also received our
1000th follower on Twitter! A BIG THANK YOU to everyone for helping us reach this milestone & spreading the news about Motiv8.
If you’re not yet one of our followers, please add us @Motiv8GM to keep up to date with our programme!
Over 180 essential visits have been made to date
August In August we announced that we had been given extra funding from our funders at The National Lottery Community Fund and the European Social Fund.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said:
“Well done to the Manchester Athena partnership of social landlords for securing funding to continue the excellent work of the Motiv8 programme. They provide support that is vital to reach and help some of the most excluded people in Greater Manchester to deal with multiple difficulties and get their lives back on track.�
You can read all about it in our Autumn newsletter by clicking on this link:
https://motiv8mcr.org/news/motiv8-autumnnewsletter-2020
September In September, one of our participants, Lufant, left the programme to start a course and move on with her life.
She wanted to let us know just how much the support from Motiv8 meant to her.
https://www.motiv8mcr.org/successstories/lufants-story
We also received our to the programme!
6,000th referral
October Get Online week during October brought digital inclusion to national attention.
During this challenging year, we have helped many of our participants to access laptops, tablets & phone credit so that they can continue to get the support they need.
Thanks also to our partners at Wai Yin Society who run virtual digital skills courses, and continue to provide support for our Motiv8 participants.
November We were absolutely thrilled to be announced as the winner of The Project of the Year at the Festival of Learning Awards! Organised by the Learning and Work Institute, and supported by the Department for Education, Festival of Learning is an annual campaign which aims both to celebrate the power of learning to transform lives, and to encourage more adults to take part.
Special thanks to our participant Mark, who is now a mature apprentice with Guinness Property. Click on the link to watch our video https://www.festivaloflearning.org.uk/award-winners/motiv8/
December We were delighted to receive an early Christmas present when our programme was Highly Commended at this year’s (virtual) UK Housing Awards!
Finally, on behalf of everone at Motiv8, we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here's to 2021!