She found out about JobsPlus after calling L&Q about a repair. \u201cI just live up the road. The convenience of being so close was amazing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t working, because I decided to look after my mum, but now the carers are in place so I can do something with myself. The first contact [with JobsPlus] was nice, because I feel like the person is not judging you. And then he [Mr Hayday] started telling me that I\u2019m capable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Campos found a job as a community centre assistant \u2013 she looks after projects at three community centres, including here at Seddon. One key requirement of JobsPlus is that anyone from the area can access support, not just tenants of the landlord, but Ms Campos is an L&Q tenant and now an employee, too.<\/p>\n
She thinks JobsPlus worked for her because there was no pressure to just take the first job she was offered. This sets the programme apart from Jobcentre Plus.<\/p>\n
Mohammed Asim, another JobsPlus participant, has even stronger feelings about Jobcentre Plus. \u201c[It] is like a graveyard. No offence to the job centre, but they have no idea. They make you feel like you\u2019re some prisoner,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been on benefits before. I have been a working lad for the past 23 years and paying my taxes. So my actual experience of the job centre was quite daunting,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
By contrast he is so positive about JobsPlus, and particularly Mr Hayday, that he caveats with a joke: \u201cDon\u2019t worry, he\u2019s not paying me to say this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt kind of boosted my confidence,\u201d Asim explains. \u201cSitting down with someone one-to-one is much better than going every couple of weeks and meeting a random stranger who has no idea about what you\u2019re going through, or [what] your stresses are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Got me up on my feet\u2019<\/p>\n
Asim worked in security, but he struggled to get work after the coronavirus lockdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing here [at JobsPlus] got me up on my feet,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve just been awarded a job to work for the Crown Prince of Dubai. Now I\u2019m employed directly by the royal family. I\u2019ve been contracted as well, so whether they\u2019re in London or they\u2019re not, I still get paid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hayday says: \u201cI think quite quickly you worked out I was OK and I could help you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hayday\u2019s team is currently supporting 56 people. \u201cObviously there\u2019s varying challenges to getting them into work,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a chap like him,\u201d he says, gesturing to Asim, \u201cor someone like Olga [given the team\u2019s experience coaching people in their careers], I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s easy, but the mechanisms are in place to get them into work. Some people, if they\u2019ve got other barriers\u2026 sometimes that journey is a little bit longer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She found out about JobsPlus after calling L&Q about a repair. \u201cI just live up the road. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[45,49,48,124],"class_list":{"0":"post-138763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-jobs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}