Craven College Magazine

REACHING OUT REACHING OUT

PROJECTS MAGAZINE PROJECTS MAGAZINE

Good practice examples

Innovative approaches

Keyworker interviews

Through meeting needs and offering support and education to help people build their confidence, the real stories and examples in this magazine will inspire. These articles are packed full of ideas of how to engage more people and replicate the amazing success of the projects team!

Ideas for engaging people

Real life stories

50%

Helping people into employment: More than half of participants gained employment during their time on the projectfrom long term unemployment or economically inactive to paid work

*Compared to an original target of 17%

Helping people into education:

85% A huge amount of participants accessed education and training as part of the project, and 74% also took part in work placements or volunteering opportunities

90%

Huge benefits to wellbeing:

of participants who completed saw an improvement in their wellbeing

These are independent statistics measured by The Evaluator in 2022 based on a sample size of 104 completed participants with a detailed paper trail

A great education enables personal progress, and that’s something that we facilitate at Craven College. We believe that education is about supporting the whole person. Learning develops a person’s knowledge and understanding across a range of topics; practice can advance practical skills in a variety of subjects; but a holistic education expands a person’s ability to grow and succeed in life. Our Projects’ Team put the person at the heart of everything that they do, curating an individual pathway through learning for them.

Our Projects’ Team are committed to supporting individuals to building a range of those personal skills, such as creativity, and resilience and confidence, and it’s great to see the projects team embody those commitments and translate them to a new group of learners We know that some people need extra support to access training, education and employment and I’m proud the Craven College Projects’ Team can provide that.

I hope you enjoy reading this Projects’ Magazine which shares the success, resilience, and empathy of our team. I hope it inspires other teams and colleges to think creatively about how best to reach people, to help people access the training and education they need and how to support individuals who want to return to work.

- Anita Lall, Acting Principal

Introduction

The projects undertaken at Craven College show great faith in human nature’s propensity to move forward. They are invested in getting people who are economically inactive or unemployed to overcome barriers and move closer towards employment, as well as addressing a range of social issues such as poverty, isolation and social exclusion. In doing so, participants benefit from increased skills, confidence and resilience.

It takes a great deal of personal commitment and in this magazine, we take a closer look at those individuals who have undertaken roles within these projects to commit their work to the cause. It’s the who, what, where of the projects' teams, demonstrating how collectively keyworkers can excel at getting people who were the furthest away from the labour market back into work and training with a sense of self-confidence

"Educational establishments are ideal places for projects like this, because there are so many opportunities for progression."

- Team Leader

ConnectingtheDots

The projects team work with individuals who are at risk of social isolation to increase their resilience and gain the ability to support themselves through a range of tailored support.

In conjunction with partners, the projects team provide mentoring and support around health, finances and education to the most disadvantaged individuals and families in the community who are experiencing a range of complex challenges.

Each participant gets one-to-one support with a dedicated keyworker and the support is personalised to maximise that individual's chance of success

This is done with the hope that participants will:

Have increased confidence to support themselves and their families and know other support services available to them Have improved mental wellbeing become more self-reliant and ‘job ready’.

Critical to the successful delivery of these projects is the long-term support provided to the participants by key workers who are their main point of contact and provide the initial engagement, assessment and ongoing assistance

How does the project team work with the college?

Speaking of the projects team, Acting Principal of the college, Anita Lall said “It’s such an important part of the college… we can take people from stuck to moving forward”. They went on to say, “Craven College is a college for its community, we look at all aspects of our community and make sure we see our job to create sustainable communities”

This is about connecting those most in need to education to improve their chance of progression towards employment The projects team leader explained “Our keyworkers are potentially the face of the college for those who are furthest away from it. They’re the ones that are representing the college, making

people fit and feel safe in engaging in education who have potentially never engaged in education.”

Often the keyworkers are helping people make the first step “Keyworkers are actually the ambassadors really If someone has a positive experience with one of the keyworkers, it cascades down to their children – it can have a massive 'knock on’ for the college and education in years to come.”

Keyworkers make a huge difference to people, and they need to be passionate and committed. “Connecting the dots and helping individuals to do courses –sometimes it’s just the day-to-day things”

and that innate “passion about other peoples’ learning and wanting them to progress: I’m making a difference and that’s why I feel I’m in the right vocation.” Explained one keyworker.

These projects are critical to the success of the whole community, as they create positive outcomes for participants

Outreach noun

An effort to bring services or information to people where they live or spend time https://dictionary cambridge org/dictionary/english/outreach

A Recipe for building trust

Building Trust is the basic building block of these projects.

Three ways to build trust

1.

Patience Empathy noun

2. Empathy

3. Consistency

The ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person ' s situation

https://dictionary cambridge org/dictionary/english/outreach

Another keyworker elaborated, “Listening initially, sometimes I will share my story or sometimes information on other people that have been in a similar position and what they have done or might get participants to meet and tell shared stories ” It’s about empathy, “the ability to understand and share feelings of another”

Building trust is something that the keyworkers involved in the projects are very good at It is essential to their role Not only does it enable them to identify barriers to participants’ progress more readily, but it also helps to motivate the participants to move on with selfconfidence; knowing that someone has faith in them

A good starting point to building trust can be sharing a little about yourself as an individual, either through a common shared experience or allowing yourself to be a bit vulnerable. One tutor explained “I’m quite a vulnerable person myself so I’m quite an open and honest person so I’m more than happy to talk about that”

The key to building trust is consistency, essentially, “Do what you say you’re going to do and don’t let people down” said one keyworker, and another added “[developing trust is] about being consistent and loyal” There is agreement on how to build trust, with another keyworker saying

"If you meet somebody for the first time, it’s the warmth, I think it’s a link and a warmth”.

Building trust is about “respecting individuals and not prejudging”. Keyworkers often mentioned the need to be open minded. "You’ve not got to be judgemental about looking down at where they are and where they could go but how far they’ve moved. Who’s judging? If you want to do a little bit more, you need a hand to do that little bit more I’d like to think I offer that hand ”

In building trust, “patience is number one Repeating like a million times, being creative and empathetic” according to one tutor A keyworker told us, “It’s communication and when you get to know what’s going on, it’s a level of understanding and not rushing in – it’s looking at a holistic approach”

-ParticipantQuote

"Iwasterrifiedatfirst becauseIhatemeetingnew peoplebutaftermeetingmy keyworkerafewtimes,I immediatelywarmedtoher. Shegavetheemotional supportIneeded."

For example, one project participant had been in care since an early age and then left care at 17 or 18 and was on their own in life without any family. This situation is not uncommon. Their keyworker explained trust can take time to build “it’s about developing it and not rushing it – taking time to get to know each other and building on that” In another keyworkers experience time is absolutely crucial as building trust “can take time”. One keyworker described the initial stages of engaging with one of her participants, “When I first met with her, she was shaking and looking at the ground and, you know, not making eye contact Over course of next couple of meetings,

she came round and was more relaxed in my company She would smile and wave as we walked towards our meeting place. She got to know me over time and you’ve got to be quite slow and quite patient and sit and be prepared to listen. It can take time.”

Luckily once trust is there, it snowballs Once keyworkers have made contact with participants, they have to work their ‘magic’ to engage the participants. One of the project's central staff described the keyworkers as being ‘selfmotivated’, “they had the drive to help people They’re very committed to doing it!” Unanimously, keyworkers spoke of the process of engaging people to be

Small Beginnings

It’s important to take a holistic approach and look at the whole person and their needs The team leader explained, “This is a very holistic programme; some of the requirements might seems really odd (eg: new glasses or teeth) but that’s what’s stopped that person from learning, from going for interviews, they’ve lost their confidence ”

Self-fulfillment needs

According to the theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, people need to have their most basic needs satisfied before they’re able to work on more advanced needs. To understand this principle, imagine that a person hasn’t eaten for three days; they’ll be so hungry all they can think about is food At that moment, they can’t possibly expend energy to do an excellent job at work or attend an interview.

different for everyone, sometimes with very small steps at first, which can feel like huge progress to the people taking part. It’s important to start slowly, assembling all the ingredients. The project team leader explained, “Sometimes people have got so far away that they haven’t had a chat with someone ” Adding that “being listened to and someone being interested and genuine helps people feel empowered to do something.”

Belongingness & love needs

Physiological needs

Once participants basic needs were met, keyworkers could “move on to see what’s holding them back ” The team leader supported this, explaining “My role is to facilitate the keyworker so that the work that they are doing the participants is to let them access what they need.”

“With participants, we put a structure in place; a frame work around them – build like a scaffolding around them."

Self-Esteem needs

-

Keyworker

Quote

Safety needs

If our basic physiological needs aren't met, we struggle to move on.

People want to aim high

One keyworker observed that participants do want more from life, they want to move up to the top of the triangle. “They want to do more than they were. That’s the biggest thing.”

Another key worker told us that, “It’s been a privilege to see people achieve” and about her approach in helping participants progress with their journey:

“I think with my teaching background what I tend to do is give people very small, achievable targets that they can get some feedback from quite quickly – like ‘distance learning courses’ where people can work from home and they get a booklet, information and little assignments to do.

“I have been out of work for 8 years. I have been looking to get some help to get my confidence back to look for part-time work. The project helped me to get my confidence back”

Participant quote

These courses are really good at starting people off – level 2 and I can support them in their 1:1s and then once they’ve past the first module, they say ‘I can’t believe that I could do this’ and they get loads of positive feedback from the assessor Their confidence just grows a little each time and they get to the point where they believe ‘I can actually do this’ and go onto other things. Your comfort zones grows a bit bigger. Bit by bit you start believing in yourself.”

Working together as a team is crucial, one keyworker commented that, “Sometimes I will refer to other people for reinforcement as well."

We’ve got a good team around us that can help as well ” The senior project officer found it helpful that, “We are a very small team and we [project officer and team leader] are available whenever for questions and support”. The team leader found that that, “Because we work in a college, there’s a lot of resources and expertise that we’ve being able to pull on so it’s a great synergy There are lots of benefits that these sorts of projects sit within education”.

While the initiative and motivation of the keyworkers in engaging participants is inspiring, it is also clear that being surrounded by a skilled team and supported by management positively influenced the outcomes of such projects and the experiences of the keyworkers.

Case study: Daniel

Daniel was interviewed after leaving the project.

Daniel was 18 years old when he joined Positive Progressions. He and his partner were just about to have their first child together. He was new to the area and had very few support mechanisms He had never worked before and did not really know what kind of employment he wanted to move into

His priority was to be able to provide for his family. With the support from his keyworker, who was very experienced with working with families in the same situation as Daniel, and he identified Daniel's strengths and interests His keyworker also assisted with arranging food parcels from the local foodbank, accompanied him to meetings to discuss benefit claims, and arranged for financial advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau

The Job Centre couldn’t believe the change in Daniel in such a short time, “The first time he walked into the Job Centre he didn’t make eye contact, couldn’t hold a conversation, and slouched in his chair grunting when asked a question Six months later, on his last visit, he greeted the staff warmly, made eye contact, and told us all about his new job, baby and plans.” He said, “I would have never been able to provide for my partner and baby as much as I wanted without the support of my keyworker and Positive Progressions”

Names have been changed for privacy

Daniel decided that he would like to progress onto a plumbing apprenticeship scheme. His keyworker arranged for him to speak to a college tutor, and he was accepted on a plumbing course to build up his skills and increase his prospects of becoming an apprentice One condition of gaining an apprenticeship was that he had to gain a Level 2 English qualification. With help from his keyworker, he enrolled on the English course and his keyworker helped him with his first assignments Daniel successfully passed his Level 2, was accepted on a plumbing apprentice course, and is now looking forward to the future. 5

Real Life Story

Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes

‘A problem shared is a problem halved’ but how easy is it for the keyworkers to relate to the participants? For some keyworkers, participants’ stories are not far from their own They shared their journeys with us

One keyworker was a participant in a similar project before taking on her role as keyworker and she commented, “I have a lot of empathy for participants having been through something similar to them myself, suddenly finding myself on my own and out of work and three children to bring up. I felt like I was able to give back and be really empathetic and supportive of participants.”

Having also shared some similar struggles to some participants’, another keyworker’s incredible ability t empathise with participants may well founded in her own background. As explained, “I had a bit of a diffic challenging upbringing and left sch with no qualifications myself and at went back and did all my GCSEs ag then an A level, then a degree then PGCE and so I was that person t struggled I didn’t really struggle school; I just didn’t have the motivat and anybody encouraging me if you l So, at 23 I met this person at a ‘Return Learn’ class and they suggested I go i teaching and started studying ag Before that, I didn’t get encouraged to to study or go to school and I can see t in a lot of people that I work with ”

“Thank you so much to everyone. I loved taking part in this project. I have recommended this course to a few of my friends”

Keyworker Quote

PGCE Definition

A PGCE is a teaching qualification that qualifies someone with a degree to teach in a state school. PGCE is an abbreviation for 'Postgraduate Certificate of Education'

‘I have a lot of empathy for participants having been through something similar to them myself,

Case Study: Nina

Home Office data on the Ukraine visa schemes showed that as of 15th August 2022, over 115,000 Ukraine Scheme visa-holders had arrived in the UK. Those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine have had their lives and families torn apart by war. A keyworker working with such refugees told us about Nina who, “Originally came from Ukraine due to war, [she is] a single mother who brought one of her sons with her but had to leave older son aged 19 and mother behind.”

Through the project the keyworker has, “Been able to give her some hope at a very difficult time ” They went on to explain that “There have been moments where the media has displayed the attacks from Russia which understandably have been difficult for her”.

Naturally, Nina is concerned about her family’s well-being in Ukraine but has shown great resilience and “has been extremely brave,” Her keyworker has endeavoured to “support with her wellbeing here by being there to listen and encouraged her to join English groups, connect with other Ukrainians and look at options to further develop her skills to get into work”

Before coming to the UK, Nina provided sports massage for the national Ukrainian women's football team and, supported by her keyworker, considered her options to set up a business. Her keyworker explained, “It has been extremely rewarding to be able to help her set this up I contacted people I knew to design a logo for free, offer a room to work in. Initial room hire was free and now ata reduced rate. Local business was happy to help after I had explained the situation. We were able to offer support with a massage bed, printing cards I helped her to get the correct insurance, advised her to let her case worker know at Job centre, advised and

Case Study: Keely

This case study was completed during her time on the project. Keeley is deaf.

Originally referred from the Job Centre, Keeley explained: “I was quite interested in joining and learning skills and getting better qualifications for my CV and also to feel better in myself – learning new things.

“When I joined, I was not feeling myself, I had lots of things on my mind I wasn’t feeling very confident around people, I get very nervous and anxious about it because of my hearing. Since I joined, I met groups of people and I feel so much better because I know some of them and I made new friends and I enjoy

supported her with her incoming/outgoings for her business, created price list, promoted her business on social media platform and gave her the tools to do the same”.

There are many benefits in employing people from overseas. They bring language skills, cultural insight, resilience and resourcefulness into a team, however there are also barriers that need addressing Probably the biggest barrier Ukrainian refugees face in seeking employment in the UK is their command of the English language. This was addressed by the keyworker who enrolled Nina onto a Craven College Functional English course alongside one-day business courses She is also attending adult learning Speaking and Listening to improve her spoken English.

Nina’s business is now up and running with a regular clientele! She hopes to also inspire other participants to seek support and develop their own business ideas.

learning courses and I feel so happy that I passed all the courses.

I am really enjoying coming to do courses because I feel so much better in myself, I am learning so much and want to do more courses I enjoy coming to weekly session to do English functional skills each week and I am getting so much better and learning so much that I didn’t know in the past.”

In August 2018, Keeley started working part time as a cleaner in a hotel

Reach out to people

Engaging a hard-to-reach demographic group successfully.

Keyworkers shed some light on how they have successfully recruited participants. Their answers showed determination, persistence and creativity!

One keyworker told us, “There’s a coffee morning on a Saturday, I know I’m not supposed to work on a Saturday, but I’ll go down and have a bit of a chilled relax. I know some of the families but there are others that I know I will connect with” and this keyworker spend her weekends explaining what the projects team can do

Another keyworker explained the lengths she went to in rural Yorkshire, “We did quite a lot of networking to see who we could link with in terms of outreach work” but it was clear some places were very small and all they had was a pub, a couple of shops and a library. This did not deter them. In this instance they found a local project, “Who do quite a lot of arts and crafts and on the creative side as a support for mental health so by introducing ourselves to them, we could help each other”.

Some participants are referred from the Job Centre but the team has also had, “Pop-up shops in town centre and contacted local community centres” Often participants were “signposted by other agencies”.

One keyworker explained it takes time and found that, “You spend quite a lot of time with people who might join the project or might not and you never know You get to talk to all sorts of people in all sorts of places” The key to success was often through building relationships, “it’s word of mouth,” she said, adding “It builds that trust with the community they then go and tell their friends”. Success builds on success.

Economically Inactive Definition

People not in employment who have not been seeking work within the last 4 weeks and/or are unable to start work within the next 2 weeks.

Ten Top Tips!

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Consider a high street presence, shop or market stall

Attend groups who are set up to help people find work

Go to Job Centres and spend time there, building relationships with the staff and the people who work there

Attend groups who help people and their wellbeing

Be where people. In rural places you might need to consider the library, shop or pub

Pop up in bus shelters or train stations where people might be waiting

Attend local events, for example, Yorkshire Day at a library

Attend partner events and chat to people there

Hand out leaflets on the street

Run your own events and encourage participants to bring a friend

“I was very reluctant to engage at first, but I’m glad I did!”

Participant Quote

Supporting People at Every Step

Karl's Story

A keyworker proudly told us of her experience with Karl whose life was turned upside down by the tragic death of his wife which resulted in him misusing alcohol.

Karl had a number of barriers including social anxiety and dyslexia. These created a challenge to him in attending courses His keyworker enrolled Karl in a first aid course and a food safety course which she attended with him so that he was not alone. This meant it didn’t aggravate his social anxiety and his keyworker could also assist him as a scribe and reader, allowing him to engage fully in the courses Karl passed both courses! He commented that “I wouldn’t have stayed if it wasn’t for [keyworker],” and this was just the start of great things to come!

/dɪs ˈlɛksɪə/ Dyslexia

A general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence

“As time went on, he told me bits of information”, explained his keyworker; from his work in a tattoo parlour, working as a stone mason and also his enjoyment of using his hands and being outdoors. In his spare time, he enjoyed making bird boxes in his garden shed. As his key worker, she attentively gathered all this information and “explored different options for him” She identified three courses (joinery, plastering and plumbing) and he was interested in all three. With his keyworker’s dedication and help, Karl went on to complete all three courses!

His keyworker commented that he was “nervous at first talking to other members but he did so well and feedback from tutor was brilliant. It really boosted his confidence.”

Team Leader describing Keyworkers

Now Karl attends a social group, ‘The Men’s Shed’, where like-minded men have room to socialise, have a brew and have a fantastic workshop full of tools to make things. His keyworker opened the door for Karl at first, “I went down to 'The Men’s Shed' on my own first to have a look around, meet the people and see what it was all about” Karl was up for it! “He’s been attending every week for last about 4 months,” she explained with delight.

Keyworker Quote

‘The cherry on the top’ was when his keyworker spotted a maintenance job advertised “I went to speak to a staff member in the current maintenance role & thought ‘he’d be perfect in this’. ”She then arranged a meeting between Karl and the staff member and they “hit it off”. His key worker helped Karl with completing the application form, interview preparation and Karl got the job!

“Karl got the job! It’s just a lovely ending!”

“Karl got the job!... It’s just a lovely ending!”

"Very skilled, independent and resilient"

Common to all participants are barriers that are preventing their progression in life, but what sort of barriers to their progress are participants of the projects facing?

It takes a keenly perceptive person to identify the barriers that are holding another person back Keyworkers are just these people: perceptive, interested and genuine! The reason for the success of this project was the determination to take time to find out the barrier and to fix it – regardless of how big or small it was!

The team leader claimed that, as a team, “Our role is to facilitate these things and understand why this will have a benefit for the participant and allow them to move on through the journey. It’s all about barriers – they may be real or they may be perceived My role is to support keyworkers once they’ve identified what the needs is, I’m there to say ‘yes’ whether it’s funding or approval and to trust in the keyworkers.”

A key worker discovered in her role that, “The participants are all sorts –I had no idea – they are all so different- there’s older people, people who have made redundant, people who have just not started out or not worked out over a long while and people who have reasons why they haven’t been able to work & will not be able to work, probably, but would really like to do something. People who have physical and mental health problems and will never be able to work as you and I understand it but don’t want to do nothing Everybody wants to do something It’s being a contributor in life and not a bystander We are social beings. Even the most autistic want to be part of something even if it’s just being on the outside watching but it’s being there.”

Smash the barriers, and the path to success is clear.

/

bar

ɪ

Physical barriers

These might include a physical disability or a physical feature that might cause the participant to lose confidence. A tutor commented on one of her participants, “When he first started, he had no confidence, was bored and struggled to find a job. He did an employability course with me. He’s made friends, had his teeth done. He’s actually happy now; he’s actually smiling! You could see a change in him.” Another keyworker described, “One particular lady had very low confidence, was overweight and struggled with lots of anxiety. We helped her to join the local leisure centre and she lost 3 stone and her confidence has just soared”.

“Everybody wants to do something. It’s being a contributor in life and not a bystander.”

Social anxiety has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to increased sources of stress for many, along with changes in the ways we connect with others - from trying to stay clear of COVID-19 to spending less in-person time with loved ones and colleagues. One key worker believes that “Socialising helps people a lot – getting groups together”. Keyworkers have creatively found ways to engage participants in group activities whether it be to encourage them to join an existing group like ‘The Men’s Shed’ or devising their own means of grouping participants together such as a kite making day, picnics and group driver theory lessons. In one keyworker’s experience, she felt that, “Social anxiety is a massive thing at the moment” In another example, a keyworker has found that, “Some women that I’m working with have never gone out other than with family members. Some have never been into a coffee shop. Even small steps like that,” and so the projects team have started occasionally meeting participants at coffee shops.

10

Keyworker quote

Cultural Barriers

Cultural barriers were keenly identified by one particular keyworker in her delivery of a highly successful netball group for Asian women who, prior to this, had little or no involvement in sport. In acknowledging these, a highly successful netball group was set up which had much wider benefits that simply fitness.

Perceived Barriers

The biggest obstacles in our lives are often the barriers our minds create. As the team leader explained, initially there are barriers that may only exist in the minds of the participants and it’s a matter of “breaking the cycle”. “They haven’t had that really good start and it’s about breaking that cycle … you need somebody to come in and say ‘you can do this. It is achievable”.

One step at a time, people make positive changes.

At first, participants need to start believing in themselves, a keyworker said, “I think it’s about taking away those beliefs that are maybe limiting or not necessarily helpful so just talking through that, those things are then addressed and looked at how they can be supported Considering a different perspective, changes the outcomes then confidence is built, then that changes choice and decision then they believe it is actually possible; ‘why did I never think I could do this before?’. Even attending those one day first aid or confidence building courses means people can actually say, ‘I enjoyed this, I can do this’ then it has a rollon effect”

Language Barriers

Language barriers were readily identified by a keyworker in her work with refugees and she explained, “We had a lot of families, especially Ukrainian who wanted to learn English – you, know they’ve come from a warzone area and language is a huge barrier. You’ve got people who are highly educated like doctors to lecturers, you know, skilled people from very diverse backgrounds.” They set up informal classes, “It was a huge help and a connection with the community.”

Keyworker quote

Keyworkers spent time finding out both sides: what people needed and what people wanted to do

Sometimes they could tease this out of people very gently A tutor spoke about having “1:1 conversation with participants (referred by keyworkers) in the beginning about what they feel their needs are. We might do little tests or it might be little quizzes”

They supported all needs, physical or emotional, “We just go through little activities around wellbeing and talk about ways that they can improve their wellbeing. It depends on what the person wants, we talk things through about how they are feeling at the particular time I do a lot of reassuring We talk about things that you can control and things that you can’t control and putting plans into place to help with their anxiety”. One keyworker explained

Keyworkers viewed the person and their needs as a whole, it is a “holistic approach – it’s participant centred – what do you want to do? We look at barriers to break down and set targets, working on getting where they want to be so it lasts longer.” Change that lasts is an important part of the projects team work.

Participant quote

“We talk about things that you can control and things that you can’t control and putting plans into place to help with their anxiety.”

If I hadn’t joined the project “I would still be stuck in my own head –depressed and feel like I’m failing my kids.”

“Knowing that someone was there to support you and the amazing help offered got me through.”

Creativity in action

Amongst all their other skills, keyworkers demonstrate remarkable creativity

Keyworkers are ingenious at pulling ideas out of the hat to help participants! They often looked at taking their participants out of the ‘four walls’ of courses, careers and jobs etc to facilitate empowering and confidence boosting activities where the participants could feel secure with them by their sides.

Going to great lengths.

“Keyworkers are multi-skilled people” commented Craven College Acting Principal, Anita Lall and there is a great deal of creativity required to “move participants around their barriers to progress”; going the extra mile, especially as each participant is an individual with their own particular needs.

Nobody was exempt from the challenges of lockdown and one keyworker commented, “Lockdown was quite unusual in thinking out of the box” We know that children and parents alike struggled with home schooling and it was over this time that the keyworkers came up with solutions to support their participants, for example, helping a young family by getting in touch with a charity, PoPi, who were able to donate to the family, “a sand pit and other learning items ”

Alongside the new keyworker roles of collecting and delivering items and support, one keyworker set up a support “group on WhatsApp so that there was a good service for mums to go for walks etc and support each other.”

Empower

Give (someone) the authority or power to do something

From exploring what the ladies wanted, the keyworkers identified that, “the Asian women want to lose weight, be healthy and they want to do some kind of sport activity, but they’d like a ‘women’s only’ group ”

The solution was a netball group which has a distinct cultural sensitivity. Initially funded by the projects team for the first six weeks, the local police unit started playing, and have gone on to fund its continuation

Goal!

One wonderful example of listening to the community, being creative, solving problems and working in partnership (a quadruple whammy!) is the new Asian woman’s netball group. Originally set up with the keyworkers, the police started to play and even fund its future.

Working with some local Asian and British Asian mums, the keyworkers found their progress was slow. After finding the group difficult to engage, the keyworkers changed tack, and creatively adopted a “different angle and asked what they wanted ‘cause nothing was working”, explained one keyworker Then another keyworker who spoke Urdu joined in and engagement really got going. This keyworker “was a community champion already,” and from then on working together was, “Really successful ”

This has led to a greater trust between the community and local policing as well as the added benefit of the improvement in the Asian woman’s wellbeing through the physical activity

On the back of the highly successful Asian women’s netball group set up by keyworkers came the opportunity to connect the community with the police service who so keenly engaged in joining in the netball. “We had a family event to welcome families that may not come across authorities or not know about the support available – we had an open day where our participants went to the police station and the officers showed them around the building, vehicles, giving them other information, educating them as well!” Explained one keyworker.

Projects like this are possible because the keyworkers represent their communities “it’s about really actually connecting with the community and I feel I’ve been able to do that because I was born and brought up in this said community” a keyworker concluded.

/ɛm ˈ paʊə/

“It’s about creating programmes to fit their needs and it’s really actually connecting with the community”

Keyworker quote

Creating connections for individuals

One method used by keyworkers to engage new participants was to introduce them to past participants to the project. One keyworker regularly took participants to do art making activities and found that participants interacted more readily when creating something alongside each other, as the focus was taken away from the need to generate conversation.

Creating connections between communities

Setting up specific events for families and individuals to get together proved very successful “We met up at the park and set up a picnic and they could share with each other and have a new social network” explains a keyworker.

Working with Ukrainian refugees and the Asian community, a keyworker came up with the brilliant idea to “put the diverse communities and cultures in one - we had families coming in making kites but the good thing was to actually involve other organisations so we’re not working independently” The keyworkers had gone to the local town hall to ask for use of a building and to the library who ran story time sessions. Keyworkers also put on a picnic in the park where a professional kite maker attended which participants thoroughly enjoyed “They were so grateful and just connecting with one another and again learning the hands on, practical side of things and creating that bond and feeling of trust”.

Creatively solving issues

One keyworker was supporting a group of Asian women who were successfully taking part in a language course and developing their skills “It built up their confidence and improved their English and made them more independent and empowered", she explained. It also became evident that these women wanted to learn to drive but were struggling to pass the theory test Driving is an important skill for employers and knowing this their keyworker set up “a driver theory course. It ended up having 20 participants all of Pakistani or Pakistani British backgrounds.” One of the women described wanting to learn how to drive for work, independence, and shopping

Case Study: Sarah

Sarah was interviewed during her time on the project.

Sarah lives with her two children and when she joined the project she was heavily involved with social services, and at risk of losing custody of her children She had to deal with daily aggression and verbal abuse from her eldest son Police were calling almost every day due to his behaviour, he was “causing lots of trouble” in the small rural village they lived in. She had social services, school, and the Job Centre all heavily involved. There was a point where she had her phone in her hand 24/7 and was worried to put it down and even walk into the garden or make a cup of tea. “It were rock bottom,” she said. Sarah was in debt and could hardly afford food. As she was describing this time she said, “I don’t even know now how I managed” She couldn't even consider employment: “Who’d give me a job? I might have to answer the phone every ten minutes and then leave 50 times a week to sort my eldest out”.

The first thing her keyworker did was to take her to the Citizens Advice Bureau and get her food vouchers. Then they arranged a relief plan for her utility bills, which were reduced from £16 per week to £6 Sarah said, “£10 a week made all the difference” She was able to have the heating on and feed herself and her family. She was no longer stressed about her financial difficulties, and she could start to work with her keyworker who helped her to think about her future They started looking at some courses Her keyworker recommended a selfesteem and confidence-building course, and Sarah booked this herself and attended alone.

She made friends and found people to talk to The other students noticed changes in Sarah too, “They’ve told me I’m more compassionate than I give myself credit for, and that I’m a good listener.”

Her life became calmer, and she began working with social services This has had knock-on effects on her son, and she has had some positive news from school, he is attending school and doing exams. He is calmer in the house, and he listens more.

Sarah now feels more confident and stands up for herself more She feels optimistic about the future and that she could begin work. She has discussed with her keyworker the idea of setting up her own sewing business and understands the skills she may need to do that, for example bookkeeping This is the start of a plan, and she thinks the next step might be to do some volunteering. Overall Positive Progressions has given her hope. Sarah explained, “When I first poured my heart out with everything, she said, ‘leave it with me; I’ll see what I can do ’“That made all the difference She didn’t need to hear platitudes or sympathy; it was the positivity which really helped her think things could be different.

Names have been changed for privacy

Knittingitbacktogetheragain

From helping people realise what they would like to do, a keyworker knew of a course that would suit the participant and printed out the details and discussed it with him. Furthermore, she gave him directions to the admissions officer and called ahead so her participant would be well received and then “let him do the rest”. “He came back and said, ‘I start next Tuesday and I’m really excited’”.

“She is now heading in the right direction and achieving future goals to be able to offer herself and her family a stable comfortable future”

“There are people in the project that offer that support (cv development etc) and job skills”, comments a keyworker. If they are socially anxious, “we accompany them” and keyworkers also facilitate “potential work experience or actual work We also have a carer’s resource for anyone that wants support work”

For two weeks after participants have finished with the project and “initially stepping out into education or work, the door’s slightly ajar so they have support if needed”

Keyworker Quote

“Together we compiled a new CV and covering letter as we could now include all of the learning and skills she had achieved since joining the project”

- Keyworker Quote

“It’s making sure that they’ve got all the information they need and empowering them to go out and find it and the tools to be able to do that.”

– Keyworker Quote

"We don’t finish when they start a job. There’s a little bit of handover to check that all is well”

Working in Partnership

Partners are not only for sign-posting and referrals Strength in Numbers

The more individuals or organisations that you can rally to your cause, the better. It’s a two-way street with partnership organisations and projects run by Craven College They both draw on each other for support, expertise and recruitment

Keyworkers have recognised the value in partnerships and, “They’ve gone out and made their own contacts. They’ve gone out and done a lot of the work themselves ” Not only have keyworkers identified these partnerships but they “build relationships with individuals in the partnership”, reported the team leader. A keyworker commented that part of the role was to be visible, to go to drop-in centres to recruit participants and to also get to know the people who run the centres, so that they in turn may identify participants that could be referred to the projects.

Singing partnership praises

One keyworker found attending a local Job Club very helpful. “They have weekly sessions where they cover a course of employability skills We did a presentation there They also invited employers in and help with debt management”

The Senior Project Officer commented that they “work with lots of different agencies in the community” meaning support was wider than just that offered by the projects team, and included energy advice, debt support, housing advice, benefits advice and more.

“The outcome is as good in terms of the whole package as we can deliver to help support somebody from start to finish –it’s a whole journey, I guess. It's about opening up those avenues so things aren’t so difficult and being empowered.”

A multi-agency approach to secure a bright future

A keyworker acknowledged the huge benefits of making sound links with partners and reflected on one particular case where she engaged many partner organisations who then contributed to a very positive outcome:

This participant was living in a hostel having fled domestic violence. Lockdown was hard for her and her children. The keyworkers worked in partnership to “support with food parcels, nurturing, books for the children and with them being off school, it was very difficult. We worked with the different partnerships, housing, education system, schools, transport and there were a lot of links in there that she couldn’t do on her own and she was in a very negative situation

The outcome was great as we managed to get her up higher as priority and out of the hostel and into a home of her own I worked with New Beginnings (set up by a lady who had also fled domestic violence –worked with police and other partners to get funding to support women in this situation). She moved into a house but this lady had nothing so people donated things that they didn’t need any more New Beginnings have been fantastic in support and legally!

This, all helped the woman to really move forward in her life so then those barriers were removed slightly then we could get onto what courses there might be She ended up having her own cleaning business in the end.” Another key worker commented on meeting participants most basic needs, “some participants might be struggling with food so I’ll go the foodbank and drop it off with them ”

“I arranged food parcels and delivered nappies, baby wipes and other essential items for the children which were donated from POPI, a local charity. This was a huge relief for Amber.”

“You’re constantly working although you’re not working – networking. Looking at who else we can work with as a team to connect because it’s a community. The community has other organisations but if we connect and work together – you get a better outcome if you’re working with different organisations withing the community to set something up.”

-Keyworker quote

Keyworker Quote

Meet the Team

Amanda Ball

Amanda came to the college as a functional skills tutor and in addition to teaching, she also did a bit of career’s advice. Amanda has felt that working on this project has been a culmination of all her favourite bits of teaching and has absolutely loved working on this project.

Louise Soothill

Louise’s former role was an ESOL teacher in Bradford working with refugees at a housing association. She describes her current role within the project as support for the keyworkers in working with their participants. She feels proud of this.

Paula Smith

Kate Dixon

Kate’s background is very different to her current role as senior administrator for the project. She used to be a baker and own a delicatessen business with her family. Her challenges are ensuring that the project is audit proof, also making sure that the money and the nice things are there and spent on participants.

Lesley Jamieson

Lesley enjoyed a career as a scientist before working in a school, focussing on pupils with behavioural issues and special educational needs. She felt like a change and feels very lucky to have the opportunity to work with this project.

Alex Coward

Alex’s role in the projects has been administrative and keeping up with the personal records of participants, however, she has provided cover for keyworkers when needed and has thoroughly enjoyed it! She hopes to find a role in the future that offers more direct participant engagement.

Bev Palmer

Bev worked for the probation service for 18 years, of which 14 years were spent helping ex-offenders back into work. She believes the biggest high that you can get is when you help someone move forward.

Yesmien Bagh

Having had her own business and experience working with refugees, Yesmien was well prepared for her role as a keyworker. She is also known as a ‘community champion’ who has built remarkable trust within her community and those that she has worked with.

Janis Sims

Janis has a background as a qualified counsellor and has been with the project for more than four years. She covers a vast area and has created valuable partnerships with other organisations in the Harrogate area.

Julie Lloyd

Julie has worked at Craven College for 12 years and is a tutor. She provides that extra support in functional skills to help participants move on. Julie also has good connections in the community through her voluntary work.