OUR WORK
GRAHAM’S STORY
RBLI LIFEWORKS PROGRAMME WINS VETERAN EMPLOYMENT AWARD
ROYAL LOGISTICS CORPS VETERAN BENEFITS FROM LIFEWORKS
Our Inititative of the Year award was collected by Graham, a Royal Logistics Corp veteran from South Wales, who has recently found work through our LifeWorks program.
LifeWorks wins a coveted award for industryleading support of military veterans in employment.
Please join us in congratulating RBLI’s LifeWorks team, who took home the Initiative of the Year Award at this year’s Ex-Forces in Business Awards for their exceptional ongoing support of military veterans and their families, particularly recognising the firstclass adaptation to remote learning during the early phases of the pandemic. The Ex-Forces in Business Awards are committed to recognising only the very best who support the transition of servicemen and women into the civilian world of work. LifeWorks has supported more than 3000 people since 2011, with phenomenal results. But in 2020, as lockdown hit, the team had to think quickly and creatively to deliver the much-needed programme in a new way.
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Traditionally delivered face to face across the UK, the team rapidly redesigned the LifeWorks programme to operate remotely. With high quality content and quick thinking, LifeWorks has continued to support veterans throughout the pandemic. The programme could not be more crucial as the job market reopens and more veterans than ever are seeking employment support. Adpating to remote working also revealed the great potential to reach more veterans with greater impact. As face-to-face sessions return, an expanded team will now deliver LifeWorks remotely alongside it to reach an even wider audience. As well as the programme’s Reachback service, LifeWorks will be offering additional support to delegates to help them retain employment.
After serving 15 years, reaching the rank of Corporal and qualifying as a chef, Graham left the Army after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and PTSD. He found work in catering but then also developed arthritis in his ankles, which made doing a job that requires standing for long periods very painful. Having been furloughed at the start of the pandemic Graham became fearful of returning to catering work due to his physical condition.
By October 2020 Graham had applied for over 20 jobs without hearing back, which he found incredibly demoralising.
The interview lasted for about an hour and he walked out feeling confident. Two days later he had the call. He was offered the job!
“I was in a dark place having struggled with PTSD for some time. I was finding it very hard to find a job during the pandemic.”
“Going from over 20 applications to not even getting an interview, I have been offered this job that before the course I would not have even applied for. So again I would like to say a BIG thank you and here's to my new job as a Tenancy Support Officer.”
Graham worked with the LifeWorks team on his CV and interview preparation, as well as looking for roles that would suit him perfectly. A Tenancy Support Officer role became available, which sounded interesting but was totally out of Graham’s comfort zone, having never done that type of work before. LifeWorks helped him prepare and two weeks after applying he got an offer for an interview. “I had an email from the Managing Director of the company to say that over 250 people had applied for this job with some very strong candidates. They had then been narrowed down to 46 and then 12 were taken to interview and I was one of them!”
Congratulations Graham!
LW
WHAT IS LIFEWORKS? In the early 2000’s, RBLI began LifeWorks courses, providing employment support to veterans across the UK. This has since expanded, with courses now being delivered abroad to the families of serving personnel. LifeWorks is RBLI’s flagship employment course which helps ex-servicemen and women back to work. Independently evaluated by the Learning and Work Institute in 2016, it was found that 83% of veterans supported were in employment within 12 months – an exceptional result compared to other similar employment programmes.
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