West North West WORKS

Published by Heather Barnes for West North West Homes Leeds in Housing and also in Communities

West North West homes joins forces with Job centre Plus to combat unemployment

West North West homes Leeds is delighted to be hosting Leeds Council Housing's first Sector Based Work Academy in a new partnership with the Job centre Plus in Leeds.

The Sector Based Work Academy is helping seven Leeds people who are currently unemployed to gain an insight into the world of housing and hopefully set them off on a successful career path within the sector. Under the West North West Works banner, the scheme is providing pre-employment training and work experience around Customer Service in Housing, followed by a guaranteed interview for a number of real jobs at the end.

West North West Works has coordinated placement opportunities with the other Leeds ALMOs, the TMO and Leeds City Council to maximise the experience, and worked with Leeds City College to provide support in completing job applications and customer service skills.

Richard Walker, Head of Service for West North West homes Leeds said "It's great to see the strong calibre and how enthusiastic the candidates have been, we really believe we've set up a training package that will give them a real feel for working in the housing sector and hopefully kick-start some brilliant careers with us. The fact that most are Council tenants is all the better".

Trainee Ben Paterson said: “I’m a West North West homes tenant and working this side of the counter I now have a good understanding of council housing from both perspectives.  The best part is handing keys over to new tenants, it makes me feel good that I’ve helped somebody find a home. This experience is the first step on the ladder for me, before this I hadn’t had the opportunities to be able to prove to an employer what I was able to give to a job, I’m a really hard worker and I’m really loving working in customer services.

 The project, led by West North West Works, a sub-brand of West North West homes Leeds will end on 25th October 2012 but aims to be repeated every three months, starting at the end of January 2013 dependent on the success of this pilot