During lockdown, the Choices programme which is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and The European Social Fund, has been helping lots of people across Copeland and Allerdale to achieve their goals and move towards employment or training.
Our programme is hosted by Groundwork NE & Cumbria and works in partnership with Cumbria Youth Alliance, Citizens Advice Copeland, Mind in Furness and West House.
Take a look at some of our good news stories and what our participants have achieved.
Firstly, Shauna has gained help from Cumbria Youth Alliance due to her age. Through COVID 19 and lockdown Shauna was facing new challenges and obstacles along the way. Shauna originally joined the Choices programme in July 2019. She has faced difficulties throughout her life, not knowing what to do and who to turn to. Cumbria Youth Alliance have offered her the opportunity to complete the education she never got. She has completed and gained certification for over 60 modules on the Embrace Online Learning Platform and she has started doing her English qualifications with Cumbria County Council Learning & Skills and she feels much more positive about her future.
Another participant we worked with has now gained employment. When Ricky joined the Choices programme, he lacked confidence in social situations and didn’t feel comfortable in groups. He had worked previously and wanted to do so in the future, but he wanted to work with us to improve his confidence in social and work situations. Ricky started coming to our coffee mornings and he quickly became a regular attendee and started helping new participants feel at ease in the group. Ricky went on from this to do voluntary work with Tivoli (ground works and maintenance) through the summer of 2019 and became such a valued member of the team that they offered him a job in the 2020 season. As well as this Ricky (being a very creative person) felt confident enough to involve himself with running a pyrography (wood burning) group here on the Choices programme for our participants, which everyone really enjoyed.
If Covid-19 has affected you and you are ready to make a change to be back into employment or need those extra skills to move into training or job searching, we can help you. Contact us on 07860850227 and take a look at our Facebook page for more information https://www.facebook.com/ChoicesInCumbria/
