Read how you’ve helped Jeff and 100s more on their employment journey

Having cared for both his parents for over 12 years, their sad passing was made even more difficult when Jeff found himself unemployed and isolated without the busy schedule he once had.

Read our article to see how your business helps to provide the skills and experience to get individuals like Jeff back into employment.

As a company, we are committed to providing 100% of our profits to charitable causes. Through our charity, Newground Together, all our profits go directly towards improving local communities & environments.

One way in which Newground Together help the local community is through employment and skills support, which ranges from assistance with CV writing, the provision of free training courses & help to gain secure, good-quality employment.

With their unique person-centred approach, last year Newground Together helped 325 people into work, over 600 people into training and supported over 1,000 people in their employment journey.

Recently, Jeff Dickinson, 61, approached Newground Together having received a leaflet that advertised their employment scheme “More Positive Together”. This scheme offers support with CV writing, improving interview skills and ultimately securing employment.

Jeff had previously been a full-time carer, spending 12 years caring for his parents with his father sadly suffering from Alzheimer’s. In 2017, his father unfortunately passed away. Jeff continued to care for his mother who needed his support full-time until she unfortunately passed in June 2020.

Along with dealing with the loss of his parents, Jeff’s situation changed immediately. As Jeff had ceased to be a full-time carer, he was no longer entitled to the carers support he was used to. Already suffering from grief and now with the new addition of financial worries, this had a negative impact on Jeffs’ mental health.

This is when Jeff turned to Newground Together.

Jeff said: “In order to claim Universal Credit I needed to prove I was actively looking for work. Not only this, I knew that finding employment would make me feel better physically and mentally. I wanted something to occupy my mind.”

“Before getting support from Newground I tried to write my own CV which was the first time I had ever written one! It made me feel down about the new circumstances I found myself in and I was glad to find out about a service that could support me.”

Jeff was put in touch with More Positive Together employment advisor Joe Geraghty who was able to look over his CV and update it. Joe also contacted several local agencies to find if any were hiring to give Jeff some work experience that he could add to his CV.

Jeff said: “Not long after helping me with my CV, Joe was back in touch to say there was a temporary full-time position available as a picker/packer at a local warehouse. I was nervous when he asked if I was interested, but I knew it was time to bite the bullet and give it a chance!”

“The position started at the end of November and lasted until the end of December and I found the experience really useful after not being a part of the workforce for a decade. I was really relieved that they were understanding of my COPD and I managed the lighter items. It was proper teamwork and it really did me a lot of good. Everyone there was nice, and it improved my mental and physical health.”

Jeff is now looking forward to the future, “I feel a lot more confident now with my new CV and work experience. I am going to continue to work with Joe to find employment and I feel more hopeful for the future.” 

Joe said: “I think Jeff has a bright future ahead and we will continue to work together to find a job he can have until he retires.”