The CREA Return to Work team – LtoR Kellie Bradburn-Sims, Louise Wills, Liz Hayhurst, Lynne Fox.
The successful Return to Work scheme, delivered by Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency (CREA) in Eden and South Lakes, has funding to the end of June 2010 and the team at CREA is keen to contact potential clients to make the most of the support that is available.
“We have a target of 120 clients registered and 39 of them placed into work by the end of the programme,” says Lynne Fox, Business Support and Planning Manager with CREA. “We are aware that it is still only the tip of an iceberg across our area so we need to encourage people to enrol and make the most of our services while they can.”
Kellie Bradburn-Sims, CREA’s Employment Broker for the scheme, has been working with clients and with potential employers in the area: “The Return to Work scheme is all about getting people who have been on incapacity benefit for more than six months back into work,” explains Kellie. “Our role is to help people to make the first steps towards a job and that can be very different for each person.”
She goes on: “We take a very personalised approach to support – not only training and CV writing but also practical support on interviews, transport subsidies, work clothing and the intangible aspects of building confidence and exploring new options. We need to enrol as many people as possible in the next couple of months to make sure that the funding makes a positive difference for people in Eden and South Lakes.”
The Return to Work programme has been active across Cumbria since early in 2008, commissioned by Cumbria County Council and the NWDA. CREA provides the practical delivery of support in Eden and South Lakes.
A similar menu of support, which can also include work subsidies for employers, is available from three other delivery partners across Cumbria. People looking for help elsewhere in the county should contact Julie Kemp (for Carlisle) on 01228 817415, Julie Wedgwood (for West Cumbria) on 01900 873371 and Jon Lyon (for Furness) on 01229 820611.
Bob Clark is Executive Director of CREA: “Our programmes deliver valuable practical support to people in rural areas and we know that getting people back to work makes a huge difference for the individuals and for our local economy. We have had excellent support from the local Job Centres and from employers and training organisations and we are hoping to access new sources of funding to provide similar services in future.”
Mark Hughes, Executive Director, Economic Development, at the NWDA, said: “Finding work has been more difficult than ever during the economic downturn and this problem is magnified in rural areas. People who have been claiming Incapacity Benefit for more than 6 months face even more challenges. By giving support tailored to individual needs throughout the employment process, Return to Work has made a real difference to peoples' lives and to the rural economy.”
Full details of CREA’s programmes, advice services and activities can be found at www.crea.co.uk. The Return to Work team are also distributing flyers with various local papers over the next couple of weeks and Lynne, Kellie and their colleagues are keen to hear from people who would like to take part in the scheme – just call them on 01539 726624 for details.
Full details of CREA’s programmes, advice services and activities can be found at www.crea.co.uk.
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