NEWSLETTER #1 OCTOBER 2021
AFTER all the excitement of finally opening The Workshop youth employment hub in Camberley centre at the end of June, it was time to knuckle down to work! Since opening it’s been a hive of activity here. We’ve had almost 80 young people register with our services, and have met with them during 140 separate appointments so far.
We were very fortunate to have had Maddi McGirr here during the summer on an undergraduate intern programme with SHBC, and in September, Clare Parrack joined Lia Rosina to make up a full team at The Workshop.
THE WORKSHOP NEEDS VOLUNTEERS
– Could you spare a couple of hours on a weekday (12-2pm) to greet walk-ins and help us to stay open during the busy lunch period?
– Or could you mentor a young person on a regular basis to offer ongoing support?
If you’re great with people, we’d love to hear from you.Email theworkshop@surreyheath.gov.uk for more information.
@camberleyworkshop
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
One of the biggest barriers to employment for young people is their lack of actual work experience, compounded by the lost opportunity to gain experience via their schools and colleges during Covid.
Is your company able to offer one or two weeks of work experience to a young person?
This could be part- or full-time and would be unpaid. As well as giving a young person a true insight into the world of work, you’ll be helping them recognise their skills and gain confidence. Please do contact us if you’re interested in offering this.
We are also slowly building up a mentoring programme. Our vision for this is to have a bank of volunteer mentors who we match with a young person for regular meetings. The role of the mentor is to offer support and guidance in career matters and potentially personal matters too. Could you be a mentor? Please do get in touch for more information if you could spare a min. of 1 hour per week.
A TYPICAL APPOINTMENT?
THERE’S no such thing! Every appointment is as different and unique as every young person that we support. We use our registration form as a basis for collecting the basic facts about each young person, and during the first few appointments, we ask many questions to find out about them and identify the support that’s needed to improve their employment prospects.
The services we offer or signpost to are too many to list, but include:
- National Careers Service appointments (NCS share our hub for a day a week and offer appointments to our young people)
- CV and cover letter writing
- Interview Skills Workshops and Mock Interviews (Camberley Job Club make appointments with our young people every week for these invaluable skills workshops)
- Support with applying for: Jobs/Kickstart posts/Apprenticeships/Traineeships/Volunteering opportunities/Work Experience and other placements/Universal Credit
- Surrey Choices (employment support for individuals with disabilities)
- Richmond Fellowship (employment support for individuals with Mental Health issues)
- Fedcap (employment support for a range of barriers)
- Links to NHS careers and opportunities
- Workshops from Natwest: Financial Foundations
- Workshops from Wessex Enterprise: Speed You Up (young entrepreneurs)
- Workshops from James Parker: Finding Purpose & Goal Setting
- Workshops from George Mikhail: Overcoming The Fear of failure
THANK YOU!
So many great local companies are involved with us here at The Workshop. Some give their time, expertise, advice & support to the staff, some to young people. Some offer work experience or run workshops or give their time by mentoring and volunteering. And some give us freebies to give to young people when they attend workshops! There are far too many to mention, but we’re grateful to every single local company that’s stepped up to support young people in the borough.
“Hi Lia, I had a very positive phone call today regarding the Kickstart placement at McLaren.I have been offered the Marketing Post!I just want to say a massive thank you to you for everything with helping me towards this. I couldn’t be more appreciative! Thank you so much.“
“Through interview practice and ongoing support from THE WORKSHOP I feel more confident and am ready to start looking for work.“
“Thanks to THE WORKSHOP now have a strong CV and a role in a Kickstart which is well suited to me!“
