In the last 14 months, Pan Together’s employability project has helped 21 people into work or back into education, it has been revealed.
Jobs secured include a bus driver, an admin assistant, supermarket and shop worker roles, labourers, a care worker, school kitchen staff and cleaners.
Pan Together is the Isle of Wight charity which exists to support and provide a community hub for the residents of East Newport which includes the Island’s most disadvantaged area. Nationwide, 94% of places in England are more affluent than Pan.
Thanks to funding from Sovereign and the Isle of Wight Council’s Adult Community Learning team, since May 2022 the charity has run free drop-in sessions in its IT room every Wednesday from 09:00 to 15:00 for people wanting to brush up their skills and/or get help with their CVs and/or are thinking about returning to work after a break. No booking is required and if people are interested, they just pop along to Downside Community Centre.
Laura Byrne, Pan Together’s employability project lead, said:
“We are absolutely delighted that we’ve helped so many people to gain skills and return to work – and we’re so grateful to our funders for making this project possible. It really is making a vital difference when the cost-of-living crisis is hitting local residents so hard”.
