Celebrating employability day at Sovereign

• 5 min read

Employability Day is the UK's largest celebration for organisations supporting people into work.

At Sovereign, we’ve recently launched our Thriving Communities strategy, which will see around £3.5m a year invested in making sure our communities are strong, resilient places to live.

Our Employment and Training team supports residents by offering assistance with

  • Career plans
  • Job searches
  • CV writing
  • Interview techniques
  • Getting back to work due to unemployment
  • Advice on how to deal with problems in their past

Heidi Leyshon, Employment and Training Manager, said: “For some residents we can offer support to increase earnings through better pay or by finding more secure work.

“For example, this might be by moving away from zero hour or fixed-term contracts, or by providing someone with the tools they need to change to a sector where there are good career progression opportunities for higher paid or higher skilled jobs.

“On top of this we fund training and qualifications; and provide grants that help with learning or job opportunities and managing their own business.”

Keyleigh, a resident from Tiverton, turned to Sovereign to try and achieve her dream of becoming a hairdresser. Our employment and training officer Lynn ensured that she was set up with the right kit to get out there and get snipping.

Budding journalist Ryan turned to Sovereign for an employment assistant grant, and is now on the road to writing, fulfilling a lifelong ambition.

And Suzy is now running her own biscuit business from home, thanks to our investment in an icing drying machine and other equipment.

Heidi continued: “As well as directly supporting residents with their career paths, we also ensure that our procurement contracts and tenders have an in-built ‘social value’ element. This means that we work with our suppliers to set up opportunities for our residents in apprenticeships, training and work experience.”

The service offered by the team during the covid-19 lockdown has not faltered, with the entire employment and training service brought online. Officers have actively contacted more than a thousand residents to offer support via Facebook, video call and email, to support those who’ve seen a change in their circumstances due to the pandemic.

Read more about our employment and training services Opens in new window and our involvement with the Communities that Work All Party Parliamentary Working Group, a national inquiry aimed at tackling the employment and earnings gap in social housing, or if you’d like to work with us or are a Sovereign residents who needs support finding employment just drop us a line.