St Mungo’s
Workwise 6 Month Report
Lambeth Housing
tenants affected by Welfare Reform
01 May to
31 October 2016
Authors Yusuf Pickstock, Roger Hamilton Linda Oginni (Lambeth Council) Title Workwise 6 Month Report 1st May - 31st October 2016
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CONTENTS PAGE
1. Project Summary 3-4
2. The Challenge 4-5
3. Analysis of data 5-6
3.1 Cohort 6
3.2 Demographics 7
3.3 Unemployment Profile 8
4. Profile of jobs gained 9-11
5. Volunteering 12-13
6. Workwise HACT Social Impact Valuation Statement 14-15
7. Workshops 15-16
8. RollOnMondays 16
8.1 Yolanda’s Interview 17-18
8.2 Derek’s Story 18-20
9. St Mungo’s Skills and Employment 20-21
10. Case Studies 21-22
11. Resident Engagement Team 22
12. Lambeth Working and JCP Lambeth 22-23
13. External partnership work 23
14. Young people 24
15. Local partnerships 24-25
16. Progression Fund 25
17. Digital Inclusion 26
18. Health 26
19. Foodbank 26
20. SHP, Centre 70 and Lambeth Money Champions 27
21. Tenancy Sustainment 27
22. The team 27
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Project Summary
The Workwise service is a partnership between Lambeth Housing Services and St
Mungo’s. It is an employment, training and advice project that supports Lambeth
tenants who are affected by the impact of Welfare Reform and are therefore at risk of
losing their tenancies and becoming homeless. Workwise provides tailored support to
equip tenants with the skills, knowledge and confidence to get into work or move closer
to employment, thereby helping to manage the shortfall in rent/housing benefit and
sustain their tenancies.
Workwise is co-located within the Welfare Reform team at Lambeth who look for
innovative ways to help tenants meet their rent payments. Workwise is seen as a
solution to help tenants back into work. The team has a range of other solutions
available to assist tenants including mutual exchange, downsizing, and a lodger
scheme. In addition, supporting more vulnerable tenants with discretionary housing
payments. The team also works very closely with Centre 70, a local charity who provide
tenants with debt advice and support with utilities and grants.
Tenants are made aware of the steps which can be taken to mitigate the impact of
changes to their welfare benefit. Those impacted by welfare reform are assessed to
determine sources of assistance required and directed to appropriate support. The
Welfare Solutions Team effectively achieve this, producing a responsive approach to
supporting these households by tailoring their offer to tenants in order to make
attempts to mitigate the impact of benefit cuts. In 2015-16 Workwise focused on
supporting tenants affected by the size criteria (Bedroom Tax). In 2016-17 the scope
of the project was expanded to additionally work with tenants affected by the
implementation of Universal Credit and the total benefit cap.
It was identified that the majority of Welfare Reform affected households have
experienced long-term unemployment and require significant support to successfully
prepare them to be ready for the labour market.
Funding for the service has been provided for 1 year via the Department of Work and
Pension’s Flexible Support Fund Grant. This commenced on 1st May 2016 and is
scheduled to end on 30th April 2017.
The Workwise team have reviewed the 1st year of delivery and carried lessons learnt
into year 2. The staff have embedded into the welfare reform team and gained an in
depth understanding of available welfare solutions. They have liaised and shared case
management with officers to support tenants with their options whilst holding a primary
focus on employment. Lambeth Housing Services have made this process seamless
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by not only providing excellent data and liaison but also match funding a dedicated
employment officer to Workwise who has been an essential conduit to referrals. The
officer has provided detailed reports to enable targeting of eligible tenants for support.
In addition they have provided a progression fund of £10,000 to aid in supporting
tenants with essential costs in finding and sustaining employment.
In the initial stages primary focus was on working with tenants in receipt of Job Seekers
Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance and more recently Universal Credit.
Other priorities have been tenants affected by the benefit cap, many of whom are in
receipt of Income Support. However, these tenants have proved to have more complex
needs and have generally been further away from returning to the labour market. Many
have been families and single parents who are otherwise not required to seek work –
because of caring responsibilities, sickness or disability.
By far the greatest achievement of the partnership in the second year has been to
maintain 100% tenancy sustainment by all tenants accessing the Workwise project.
Many have had eviction panels and attended court to make agreements to address
their rent arrears. Workwise staff coming from St Mungo’s, a homeless charity
understand and reinforce the importance of tenancy sustainment. The team have felt
privileged to work with tenants on a homeless prevention project, all of whom have
previously worked with clients post eviction on employability contracts.
Prior to the under occupancy charge, Universal Credit and total benefit cap, many
tenants were able to survive on welfare payments. However, with deductions in
housing benefit for these cohorts and payment delays for Universal Credit claimants,
this has now proved simply unsustainable. Workwise provides a reality check and has
proved a genuine motivator for tenants to strive for employment as the only long term
option to mitigate their circumstances and maintain their tenancy.
The challenge
As an Employment specialist team, Workwise continue to support clients but often
have to challenge expectations to enable them to move closer to the employment
market.
Key areas we tackle:-
Lack of motivation to engage regularly with the service
Lack of understanding of the employment market
Low levels of confidence leading to low initiative to contact the team to ask for
help when needed e.g. interview secured
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Self-awareness of personal barriers to employment
Poor IT skills, literacy and numeracy needs and low desire to improve these
Attendance and timekeeping
Poor communications skills in general
Poor diary management and general organisational/planning skills e.g.
looking up google maps to get to a new destination for interviews or
appointments
Limited understanding of what employers want and need
Ability to read and understand job specifications and apply themselves when
completing job applications
Generic CV’s
Negative attitudes towards employers and employment related services
Unrealistic salary expectations
Analysis of data
Workwise initially aimed to work with 150 tenants over the duration of the 2016/17
contract. However demand for employment support by tenants has been high and the
team had already engaged with 131 tenants by 31st October 2016.
40 / 31% of tenants were from North of the borough, 36 / 27% were from South and 38
/ 29% Central Lambeth. This represents an even spread of referrals and engagement
across the borough. 11 / 8% of tenants were from tenant management organisations,
which are not directly managed by Lambeth Housing Services.
A total of 194 one to one sessions were attended by 131 tenants over the 6 month
period. These were sessions held by one of the dedicated Work Co-ordinators, who
help clients to move towards their work and learning aims. The discussions centre on
both long term goals (dream jobs) and short term (work to help with their current
financial situation).
193 work- focused sessions have been attended, which are designed to provide
support with CV preparation and review, interview techniques, application forms,
presentations or other work-focused activities. The coordinators use coaching and
motivational interviewing techniques to empower clients to work towards their own
goals.
33 tenants were recorded as undertaking foundation skills sessions. These were single
sessions and workshops that support clients back in to work. Examples of these have
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been in work benefit and better off calculations, sessions attended at the St Mungo’s
Recovery College, meaningful use of time and some non-accredited training courses.
65 tenants were recorded as having attended basic skills sessions and workshops that
support them with their ICT, literacy or numeracy skills.
209 referrals were made by the team to employment, education, volunteering or advice
opportunities. This resulted in the following outcomes:
65 tenants securing full-time work
7 securing part-time work
72 tenants receiving in work support
6 work placements gained
36 places gained on education and training courses
23 qualifications recorded as achieved so far
28 volunteering positions gained
Cohort
During 2016-17 the Workwise team has reported on performance by cohort and looked
at trends in Case Classification. The team carried in 53 legacy cases to year 2, 35 of
whom were affected by the bedroom tax. This is the largest Welfare reform cohort in
Lambeth and goes some way to explain why 87 / 66% of tenants were from this group.
Other legacy cases include 6 Universal Credit previously on JSA and 12 benefit
capped households from both social housing and the private rented sector, previously
seen by St Mungo’s under the Lambeth Tenancy Rescue project. The team has found
some similarities and major differences with benefit capped cases within the private
rented and social housing sectors. The similarity is that 90% of all benefit capped cases
seen were single parents with dependent children. The reason for benefits being
capped in PRS is mainly due to high rents set by private landlords. Within social
housing, the main cap reason is child tax credit for dependent children. Workwise
would like to undertake further specific work with a larger cohort of capped clients
should resources become available.
Case Classification Cohort Percentage
Bedroom Tax 87 66%
Universal Credit 23 18%
SH Benefit Cap 15 11%
PRS Benefit Cap 6 5%
Total 131 100%
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Demographics
Of the 131 tenants engaged with by Workwise there has been a ratio of male 41 / 31%
to female 90 / 63%.
Age range
The majority age range of referrals to Workwise were tenants aged 51-65 (66%) in
2015-16. However, with the introduction of Universal Credit and Benefit Cap referrals,
the age range has shifted in year 2. 61 tenants or 46% are aged 51 to pension credit
age in 2016-17. Within the Universal Credit cohort Workwise are seeing tenants aged
18-24 for the first time, whereas this cohort were tenants dependants in the first year.
Detailed Age Grouping Number of Clients
Percentage of Clients
20 - 24 5 4%
25 - 29 6 5%
30 - 34 5 4%
35 - 39 18 14%
40 - 44 14 11%
45 - 49 16 12%
50 - 54 33 25%
55 - 59 19 15%
60 - 64 15 11%
Ethnicity
Ethnic Origin Number of Clients
Percentage of Clients
White: Other 4 3%
Black or Black British: Other 3 2%
White: British 19 15%
Black or Black British: African 22 17%
Black or Black British: Caribbean
58 44%
Mixed: Other 5 4%
Mixed: White & Black Caribbean
7 5%
White: Irish 2 2%
Asian or Asian British: Other 1 1%
Client does not wish to disclose
3 2%
Mixed: White & Black African 1 1%
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Asian or Asian British: Pakistani
1 1%
Asian or Asian British: Indian 1 1%
Other ethnic group 1 1%
Unknown 3 2%
Declaration of criminal convictions
From initial discussions and recording at enrolment it was established that 14 / 11% of
the cohort have self-declared criminal convictions. 9 / 14 of the cohort 64% gained
employment with the first 6 months of 2016-17 and felt this was not a barrier in
returning to the workplace.
Jobs by Offending history
Jobs achieved 9
Cohort 14
64%
Unemployment Profile
Length of unemployment at point of registration:
Length of unemployment Cohort Percentage
0-6 months 34 26%
7-12 months 22 17%
13-23 months 12 9%
24-35 months 13 10%
36+ months 50 38%
Total 131
Benefit type at the point of registration:
Benefit Type Number of Clients
Percentage of Clients
Jobseekers Allowance 77 58%
Universal Credit 23 18%
Employment and Support Allowance
9 7%
Income Support 19 15%
No eligible benefit 3 7%
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Profile of jobs gained
Workwise participants have worked hard to achieve matches to their aspirations and
shown immense tenacity to achieve jobs in what has proved to be a competitive
employers market. In reporting jobs, the Workwise team has broken down the reporting
of weekly hours worked into 30+, 16-29, 8-15 and under 8 hours. The team recorded
72 job entries over the period 01/05/16-31/10/16 (6 months).
It is generally seen that although clients may have achieved a job outcome, those
working under 16 hours a week will not necessarily sign off Jobseekers allowance or
their eligible benefit. For the purpose of the Flexible Support fund Grant for Workwise,
these positions are seen more as added value rather than as a validated outcome.
Tenants are made aware that if they undertake work and still claim JSA, they must
declare their weekly hours of work to their DWP advisor on their signing day.
Workwise has witnessed instances where clients have built up their hours in multiple
part-time jobs in order to move away from claiming Jobseekers allowance or
Employment and Support Allowance.
Jobs gained by case classification
Jobs by Case Classification Jobs Cohort Percentage
Bedroom Tax 52 87 60%
Universal Credit 11 23 48%
Social Housing Benefit Cap 5 15 33%
PRS Benefit Cap 4 6 67%
Total 72
Workwise has significant experience in Working with Bedroom Tax cases from its first
year of delivery. At the half way stage of 2016/17 60% of this large cohort have gained
employment through interventions from the team. 48% of Universal Credit claimants
have gained jobs in the same period. The cohorts for benefit cap are relatively low
overall, but there is evidence that progress is being made in engaging with these
groups.
Jobs gained by hours
Jobs by hours worked per week Employment (30hrs or more/week) 42 Employment (16-29/week) 18 Employment (8-15 hrs/weeks) 4 Employment (less than 8 hrs/week) 3 Client registered as self employed 5
Total 72
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Jobs achieved by sector
Jobs gained 30+ hrs per week Self-Employment
Administration x10 Construction x2
Social Care x8 Nursing x1
Construction x9 Tailoring x1
Retail x4 Party Planner x1
Maintenance x3 Jobs Gained 8-15hrs per week
Domestic Cleaning x1 Domestic Cleaner x1
Catering x1 Retail x1
Hotel Work x2 Social Care x1
Pharmaceutical x2 Courier x1
Childcare x1 Jobs Gained 0-8hrs per week
Driver x1 Catering x1
Jobs Gained 16-29hrs per week Casual Stewards x2
Courier x1
Teaching Asst x1
Social Care x9
Retail x7
Jobs achieved by length of unemployment
Length of unemployment Jobs Percentage
0-6 months 25 35%
7-12 months 14 19%
13-23 months 6 8%
24-35 months 8 11%
36+ months 19 26%
Total 72
The analysis demonstrates that 54% of jobs achieved were by tenants who were
unemployed for less than 1 year. This is no surprise to the team, as recent work history
is more appealing to potential employers. Naturally the longer a tenant is out of work
the more isolated and generally less confident they become about returning to the
labour market. However, equally Workwise can evidence that an impact has been
made with those that have been unemployed in the longer term. 37% of jobs were
achieved by tenants who have been unemployed for 2 years or more. Within the 36
months + cohort, evidence shows that a number were previously out of the labour
market for up to 10 years.
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Jobs achieved by benefits type
Jobs by Benefit type Jobs Percentage
Jobseekers Allowance 48 67%
Employment Support Allowance 5 7%
Income Support 5 7%
Universal Credit 11 15%
Other benefits 3 4%
Total 72 100%
Jobs Achieved by Legacy Cases
Jobs by Legacy case Yes No Total
Total Jobs 38 34 72
Total clients 53 78 131
Jobs as percentage of cohort 71% 43%
Employment Sustainment
Whilst sustained employment was not a KPI in the original submission, it was
recognised that the team needed to evaluate the job entries achieved and measure
whether the cohort achieved sustainable employment. This is an ongoing exercise at
the time of the current evaluation, but some key themes were highlighted.
65 out 72 or 90% of the jobs achieved were still active at the 6 month stage of 2016/17.
From our experience of working with Lambeth tenants, reasons for jobs ending have
included:
Temporary contract ended
Not passing probation period / early termination
Travel cost / hours available
Zero hours contracts, not guaranteed hours
ID issues
Sickness
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Volunteering
Central to the success of Workwise, has been the close working relationship with the
Welfare Solutions team members; to identify clients and set up strategy and processes
to help get the best possible outcomes.
GET SET GO
The Welfare Solutions Team designed the Get Set GO volunteering programme in
partnership with the Lambeth Estate Pride team. This is a 3-6 month programme where
tenants who are welfare reform affected have the opportunity to take part in in
volunteering work within their local community. 28 Workwise participants gained
volunteering outcomes through this project. They volunteer their time to undertake
community volunteering for Lambeth and in return receive support with their spare
room subsidy shortfall – this experience has had a really positive impact on the clients’
finances and tenancy management as well as providing them with great work
experience, new skills and an up to date reference.
Get Set Go currently covers:
Resident Surveys - Volunteers work outdoors in pairs on a selection of estates
surveying fellow residents face to face about various community issues. The results
are used to help shape Lambeth Housing Services future housing Services. Volunteers
gain experience in; conducting surveys, dealing with the public in a customer service
role, capturing information and gaining an insight into community engagement
alongside area Housing officers.
Estate Inspections – Volunteers help across a variety of estates being mentored by
staff from Area offices and playing a key role in helping to deliver housing services to
fellow residents. Volunteers gain experience with reporting, dealing with contractors,
writing repair requests, communicating with fellow residents, understanding how the
housing sector works and problem solving.
Business Admin Support - providing support and assistance in basic areas of work
undertaken by the housing department – including assisting on various projects.
The Get Set Go programme also offers comprehensive training and employability
support to the participating clients. 7 tenants from this cohort are currently completing
Community into Housing qualification at Level 2, facilitated by High Trees Community
Development Trust.
In addition, the Employability Project Officer has been building key new connections
with employers, contractors and other council departments.
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External volunteering
Lambeth Volunteer Centre – the Work Coordinators have established a link with
the Good Practice Manager at Lambeth Volunteer Centre who we hope to work
with more closely going forward to provide opportunities for our clients. We
currently refer clients to the drop in sessions at LVC. We also use Do-it.org, Team
London, and WWV to help clients find interesting and relevant volunteering
opportunities for them. We discuss the great benefits of volunteering with our
clients – it can be a real platform to paid employment providing hands on
experience, a reference, new skills and new networks and a great way to fill a gap
on a CV for the long term unemployed – not to mention the sense of wellbeing it
engenders for those who find a volunteering opportunity they love.
A number of tenants have gained voluntary positions within local schools as
classroom assistants, after school clubs and lunchtime supervisors. There is a
hope that some of these will become paid positions.
6 Workwise participants have gained volunteering opportunities within St Mungo’s.
Some have supported reception and the Recovery College at Rushworth St and
others have been supporting staff at hostels, wellbeing and support projects.
We’ve also formed a connection with the local group ‘Community Support’ who
provided a local internship opportunity with social enterprise Global Justice.
Workwise 2016/17 HACT Social Value Calculation based on 6 months delivery from 01/05/16-31/10/16
Budget : social impact Net benefit
£ 73,858 £ 1,612,766 1 : 21.84 1,538,908£
73,858£ 1,612,766£ 1 : 21.84 1,538,908£
Overall budget Overall social impact
Analysis of benefit
Age
unknown
Under
2525-49 50+
No. with
unknown
results
£ 73,858.00 ♦ Full-time employmentRecord of individuals moving from unemployment into FT
employmentEmployment survey London 14,433£ 2 30 28 933,064£ 793,104£
♦ Self-employmentRecord of individuals moving from unemployment into self-
employmentEmployment survey London 11,588£ 4 1 60,651£ 51,553£
♦ Part-time employmentRecord of individuals moving from unemployment into PT
employmentEmployment survey London 1,229£ 4 3 13,761£ 11,697£
♦ Vocational training Record of individuals enrolling on specific training Employment survey London 1,124£ 1 16 19 64,734£ 55,024£
♦ Regular volunteering Record of individuals with regular voluntary position Employment survey London 3,249£ 9 19 85,782£ 69,483£
♦ General training for job Record of individuals attending training Employment survey London 1,567£ 4 117 105 560,252£ 476,214£
♦ Employment training Record of individuals attending training Employment survey London 807£ 8 95 91 177,083£ 150,521£
♦ Regular attendance at voluntary or local
organisationRecord of individuals regularly attending group Employment survey London 1,773£ 4 2 6,382£ 5,169£
Average
person valueAnnual budget Associated outcome / value Total value
Which survey? Or is it an
activity value?Evidence you need to apply the value
No. of participants (+ ages)In which
region is this
activity?
Total minus
deadweight
HACT Social Value
Lambeth Housing Services were keen that the social impact of the work undertaken
over the second year of Workwise was evaluated. The value that communities derive
from programme investment can be difficult to quantify, so we worked to develop a set
of financial values which could be attributed to particular interventions based on the
initial budget. The total Workwise budget for 2016/17 equates to £147,716. This
consists of salaries and on costs incurred by St Mungo’s (£87,697) and a match funded
post and on costs incurred by Lambeth Council (£50,019). There is additionally
£10,000 budgeted for the progression fund provided by Lambeth Council. For the
purpose of the 6 month report we have halved the total budget to gain a cost/benefit
ratio at this stage. There has been consistent data collection by the team using St
Mungo’s Opal management information system. Evaluating, and reporting of data has
been key in validating outputs on a weekly and monthly basis. We have used the
Housing Association Charitable Trust’s (HACT) measuring tool in this exercise. There
were many sustainment and wellbeing values that could have been attributed to the
analysis, but due to the limited timescale in writing the evaluation a decision was made
to use the main KPI hard outcomes achieved so far. These were then measured
against the HACT values for London, contained in the Social Value Bank. When
thinking about community value, there was a wish to assess the positive impact that
comes from employability work with Welfare Reform affected tenants. The results
demonstrate a cost/benefit ratio 1:21.84.The results of this statement are being shared
with the Lambeth Resident Engagement Team as part of their community investment
work. The results are also being shared internally with the St Mungo’s Knowledge &
Information project.
Workshops
Workwise recognised that the team needed to develop a series of in-house workshops
at our base in Union Road (Stockwell). The Employment Project officer has led on this
and formed a relationship with Mitie and Breyer Group who are two of Lambeth’s
contractors. They were keen to engage with Workwise and offered support as part of
their community investment initiatives. They allocated staff to help deliver workshops
to Welfare Reform affected tenants. These have included CV workshops, Interview
techniques, and effective job search skills.
In addition the Workwise team have used existing resources available to help residents
up skill themselves to be ready for the job market. These have included digital skills
workshops, using IT, CV Skills, interview techniques and UK Online Centre-Learn My
Way resources.
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The workshops have proved to be a networking hub for tenants to engage with each
other and the team to engage with them on opportunities to improve employability
prospects. In addition the team offer weekly group drop in sessions at Union Road
where tenants can access computers and have support with applying for online jobs.
St Mungo’s RollonMonday programme What is the RollOnMonday programme?
‘RollOnMonday’ is a work-placement programme, offering our most ‘job ready’ clients
paid work-placement opportunities, in various entry-level administration roles, within
law firms.
A brief look back at the programme
Founded in partnership with RollOnFriday, an online community for people working
within the legal sector, the RollOnMonday programme formally launched in January
2014. Through the RollOnFriday network, and with the support of our programme
partner, Osborne Clarke, RollOnMonday offers St Mungo’s clients meaningful work-
placement opportunities within law firms and their associated organisations.
Key benefits for our clients:
- Working alongside a professional and supportive team
- Learning and using a range of transferable skills
- Becoming more confident in their abilities
- Gaining up to six months of paid work experience
Placements in more detail
The RollOnMonday programme works with a range of law firms, which provide entry-
level administration roles across their organisations in various departments, such as:
-Central Services -Facilities -Finance
-Human Resources -Marketing -Events
Each placement is created specifically for St Mungo’s and is only offered to our clients.
Each position is carefully defined and the law firms will provide a job description, so
clients have a clear understanding of the role and know what they can expect to learn
and experience during the placement.
Roll On Monday has provided 7 Workwise participants with placements at a number
of law firms including BPP Law School, DWF LLP, Freshfields LLP, Clifford Chance
LLP, White & Case LLP and Shearman and Sterling LLP. These placements are paid
at the London Living Wage of £9.40 per hour.
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Brixton resident Yolanda is now back in full-time work after engaging with the
RollOnMonday project.
Career history
“I’m working as an administration at a law firm in London. I’ve done admin work before
at Southwark College. I’ve worked as a School Link Officer, and temping as a
receptionist. I’ve also worked in Events and I’d love to have the opportunity to do that
again. They have an Events team here.
Working with Workwise
“In 2014 the bills were piling up and I was feeling a bit demotivated about finding work.
Workwise were great in terms of the contacts they had, the kinds of jobs you don’t see
in the job centre. They do say the best jobs are never advertised. Plus they were great
in terms of support: CV writing, interview techniques, and just having someone who
sees your potential.
Being without a job can make you forget your skills and assets and self-esteem. They
reminded me that I had a lot to offer. When the Workwise team showed me this job I
said ‘I can do that’. My adviser said ‘I know, let’s send your CV. They also helped pay
my travel expenses for the first month until I got paid.
Work experience
“I joined the council’s Get Set Go programme to get some work experience and that
helped build up my self-confidence. We did an audit of pram sheds for the council. It
felt like I was adding value, helping identify where the sheds are and what condition
they’re in. The idea is they can be rented out or used to bring in revenue. Being out
and about, doing something helped make me feel “I can work.”
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The workwise approach
I’d like to see Workwise grow, not just in Lambeth but more boroughs. They’re
interested in people one-to-one, they take a completely different approach to helping
you.”
Interview courtesy of Peter Green (Lambeth comms)
Derek’s story
Paul and Kirsty oversee RollOnMonday at Travers Smith law firm, and Derek is the
second St Mungo’s client to have secured, and taken on, a work placement at the firm.
After working in a charity supporting young people for over 14 years, Derek was made
redundant in late 2015 and like others in a similar position it had a real negative impact.
Derek said “I felt really depressed. I was really invested in my work and felt a part of
young people’s journeys. I felt lost without it.”
Workwise started working with Derek after he lost his job because he was being
affected by the benefit cap and needed support to find work in order to reduce the risk
of him getting into rent arrears, work co-ordinator contacted him about RollOnMonday.
Derek said, “The phone call was a blessing in disguise as I felt apprehensive about
going back to work and needed something simple and that came with support.”
Travers Smith interviewed a number of candidates for a position in their mail room –
sorting and distributing the post - Derek stood out and was offered the role after
receiving support with interview techniques from Workwise and being referred to
Suited & Booted for a free, made to measure suit.
After a successful work trial, Derek started a three month placement and was slowly
introduced to the role. Travers Smith made a point of not overwhelming him with work,
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gradually adding duties and increasing his responsibilities over time. Travers Smith
also gave Derek a clothing allowance at the start of his placement, so he could buy
suitable office clothing. This is something all new employees in the facilities team at
Travers Smith receive and it was felt Derek should be treated exactly the same as
everyone else. Workwise paid for Derek’s Travel during his first month in the new role
and continue to offer him in work support.
Derek integrated really well into the team, but said it was a real culture shock at first.
“It took me time to get used to shaving every day, putting on a suit and commuting on
a bus to work.” The placement went from strength to strength and Derek was offered
a further six months at the firm. “They’ve already offered me an extension and I’d really
like to stay here, but I know there’s no guarantee of a full-time job at the end.”
Derek plans to make the most of his time at Travers Smith and has been offered
additional training. “I’m enrolled on a fire warden course in order to make me more
employable down the line.”
Derek has found the whole experience really positive and would recommend it to other
clients. “I would go for it. It’s a great opportunity. I’d like to think the other law firms in
the programme would support their candidates as much as Travers Smith has
supported me.”
The placement has been mutually beneficial as Travers Smith have really enjoyed
working with Derek. Paul said “Derek has been a real asset and a role model to some
of the members of the team.”
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Courtesy of Rob Prangle RollOnMonday Co-ordinator
St Mungo’s Skills and Employment
Tenants registered with Workwise have been able to access other opportunities
available from the wider St Mungo’s Skills and Employment team.
These include:
8 Workwise tenants have been training in Construction as part of the
Construction Multi-skills and the ReVive (Painting and Decorating) social
enterprise, now operating from Southwark and Camden.
Many Workwise tenants have enrolled with the Recovery College in
Southwark where over 70 free courses are offered, from yoga and meditation
to psychology and poetry. All travel is paid for clients who attend the college –
it is a relaxed and informal environment but for many can be the first step into
learning and many go on to accredited courses afterwards.
We have a dedicated Business Start Up team based in Southwark. 7 Lambeth
tenants have met for 1-1s with our volunteer Business Consultant. He can
support and mentor clients who aspire towards self-employment – giving
guidance on business plans, cash flow, tax and book keeping, marketing
funding and more. Experts also run specialist workshops and networking
meetings.
Workwise participants have been referred to the Basic Skills team and
Cedars Community College for support with functional skills: literacy,
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numeracy and IT. One tenant is getting help with her reading and writing 3 days
a week at both Southwark and Cedars Road.
We refer some tenants to the Wellbeing Centre in Wix’s Lane, Clapham. They
can access positive activities, relaxation and alternative therapies. This has
been and invaluable resource to our Lambeth Housing tenants who often feel
low in confidence due to health issues, unemployment or worries about money
and housing.
Case Studies
Client initials have been changed – no case studies to be reused without
consent/anonymity.
AB
AB engaged with Workwise for employment support after reading about the project in
the Lambeth local press. She was bedroom tax affected and received discretionary
housing payments under the family category, but understood that this was not a long
term option. AB is a single parent of 3 children and had not worked for 12 years, whilst
raising her family. Workwise referred AB to the Get Set Go volunteering programme,
where she gained some much needed work experience. This involved undertaking
estate inspections and an audit of housing stock. Whilst volunteering AB was enrolled
onto and completed a community into housing course as well as fire marshalling
training for a community event that she organised. It was then suggested that AB
undertake a Money mentoring course at the Lambeth Community shop. Whilst there,
an opportunity arose to complete a retail course with a work experience placement at
Marks and Spencer’s. After successfully completing the placement, M&S offered AB a
37.5hr per week full-time contract. They put her through first aid and Health and Safety
training. AB is now qualified and the shift designated Health and Safety lead. M&S
have been really impressed with AB’s progress and are now transferring her to their
new store opening in Dulwich. AB says that she chose shifts that start at 6am to 2pm.
This may have been an issue for some people, but it suits her perfectly. Her mother
takes the youngest to school in the mornings and AB is home in good time to prepare
for the afternoon school run. AB signed off of Job Seekers Allowance and has made
an application for Working Tax credit. The Workwise team are really proud of AB’s
achievement and are continuing to offer in-work support.
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BB
BB is a single parent of 3 children living in Private rented accommodation in Lambeth.
She has worked with St Mungo’s since 2013 when she first became affected by the
benefit cap and initially saw a money advisor. Due to a Rent of £1,400 per calendar
month and other welfare benefits, BB had a shortfall of £93 a week in her housing
benefit. This was topped up by a discretionary housing payment paid by Lambeth
Council directly to her landlord. However, BB was keen to return to work as her only
way of mitigating from the benefit cap. Once her youngest child was in nursery, this
freed up time for BB to access employment support. Prior to having children, BB had
studied catering and hospitality and worked her way up to being an assistant chef at a
London hotel. The team referred BB to The Ace of Clubs training centre in Clapham,
where she was able to update her skills and complete a Food Safety qualification at
Level 2. The Workwise team supported her to update her CV and start applying for
Catering jobs. She sourced vacancies and found a local catering company looking for
an assistant chef. The team supported BB with interview techniques training and she
felt motivated to attend the interview. The company offered BB a one week work trial,
which she successfully completed and was then offered a 25 hour a week (9-2pm)
contract as an assistant chef. Once gaining the position BB applied for Working Tax
Credit and support with childcare costs. Once WTC was in payment, BB became
exempt from the benefit cap. BB says she has managed to use breakfast clubs in the
morning and an early start at nursery for her youngest. She is then available after
school and nursery to collect the children. It is a busy routine, but she is pleased to
back in the workplace after many years away from the labour market.
Lambeth Resident Engagement Team
Workwise have strong links with the Lambeth Residents Engagement team – They
have funded a number Workwise participants to undertake the CIH Housing Level 2
qualification, as well as an Award in Teaching and Education (formerly PTTLS).
Lambeth Working and JCP Lambeth
Lambeth Working are the Council’s job brokerage team who source and secure jobs
and opportunities for Lambeth residents with employers and contractors.
The Welfare Solutions team have built a strong partnership with Lambeth Working.
There are regular partnership meetings and Lambeth Working see providing welfare
reform affected tenants as a priority for their job brokerage service. We have also
attended their networking events where we have been able to meet with many other
agencies that Lambeth Working also support.
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Clients with skills and interest in construction have been referred to the
bespoke construction team who have been brokering positions with contractors
primarily on the Nine Elms development project.
With non-construction brokered vacancies (for example the roles at
Sainsbury’s, Interserve Cleaning, Guys and St Thomas’s for example) we have
worked closely with their placement co-ordinators. This has been invaluable as
many of our tenants have struggled significantly with traditional recruitment
processes even though they have been competent at undertaking role tasks.
Many tenants need brokered positions to meet employers and have been
successful at interview.
The Workwise team has built links with specialist drug and alcohol leads in the
job centre, the specialist Lone Parents’ workers advisors both at JCP and
various Work Programme Providers including Ixion, Prospects, Renaisi and the
Shaw Trust. Workwise see working together with JCP staff to support clients
as crucial to success. If we work together to support clients we can achieve so
much more.
Lambeth Working have also asked the St Mungo’s Workwise team for specialist
support and advice with regards to clients they work with who have faced street
homelessness or other housing and health related issues. The team is always willing
to share expertise and knowledge in this area with all our partners and feel this
strengthens our relationship even further.
External Partnership Working
We have worked hard to service existing and build new relationships, network with
other agencies, and create a diverse range of opportunities and partners that our
tenants can benefit from.
Employer Partnerships:
Breyers – we have continued to strengthen this relationship and have worked
closely to organise bespoke in-house workshops and interviews for our clients.
Mears – we have worked with Mears’ Care Division to put forward good
candidates for their care roles (home care work based in Lambeth).
Mitie and MI Homecare – for tenants interested in care-work links have been
secured to support training and employment.
Employ SE1 – we are a referral partner for this organisation who broker jobs
for Lambeth and Southwark residents with four Business Improvement Districts
(BIDs) based in SE1.
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Young People
Prince’s Trust (South London) – the Work Coordinators have attended
networking opportunities with the Prince’s Trust. Any clients meeting the
criteria can be referred to their Fairbridge and Team programmes.
Spear – another organisation for young people offering employment support
based in Clapham Junction – have supported one client to get their CSCS card.
Local Partnerships
Smartworks - 20 clients have been referred to this excellent service for women
in Islington and Ladbroke Grove which provides free interview outfits including
shoes and bags as well 1-1 interview coaching. This has made a substantial
difference to clients’ self-esteem and really makes them look the part! They
have been an invaluable resource to Workwise delivery.
Suited and Booted – we are a referral partner for this interview clothing service
which is for men. They have been amazing, seeing tenants at short notice to
kit them out for interview.
Ace of Clubs – Ace of Clubs is a family-like community providing
transformative support for those who are homeless, vulnerable and otherwise
marginalised in our area. They have provided CIEH accredited Food Hygiene
level 2 training and ICT level 1 courses.
High Trees – we regularly refer into the classes already offered at this training
provider in Tulse Hill. The Workwise team have met with High Trees to plan
some specialist training for our client group. They are currently facilitating the
Community In to Housing Level 2 (CIH) course for our tenants.
Tree Shepherd – this organisation provide free business start-up support and
ongoing mentoring to Lambeth Residents who want to set up their own
business. We have visited them and provided training to their team on benefit
entitlement. We refer clients to their support and get good feedback.
MI Computer Solutions – offer a range of training including English, Maths,
and IT courses.
Lambeth College – we have created a contact at the college so we receive
updates on all employment/employability related opportunities.
Blackfriars Settlement – this Southwark based organisation also offer food
hygiene training and our clients have been able to access this through our
advocacy.
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St Giles Trust – based in Camberwell. Their STAR programme supports those
with offending history to access employment opportunities many which have
been especially brokered. Two Workwise clients are using this service and
successfully secured.
Freshlife – Workwise tenants have been referred to this catering programme
run by the Beyond Food Foundation in Southwark. Clients learn about healthy
eating, get work experience in a top restaurant kitchen and shop for produce in
Borough Market and get specialist employment support to get a job in the
catering industry.
Free2Learn – we have referred clients to forklift truck driver and security SIA
training at this Croydon provider (they have other sites across London which
our work and learning team also refer to).
Remploy - We have applied to become a formal referral partner for this
specialist organisation who support long term sick and people with disabilities
into employment opportunities.
Progression Fund
Lambeth Housing Services has provided a progression fund of £10,000 for Workwise
tenants which was administered by the team. Tenants that engage with support or gain
employment can apply to the fund for up to £150 per person, for help to remove
financial barriers which may have held them back in their journey into work. Tenants
are asked meet part of the cost when appropriate as it shows commitment from them
and as well as from us and also this allows the fund to reach more people.
Examples of items the fund has been used for are:
The cost of DBS checks
Driving licence / renewal or other essential ID (e.g. passport/birth certificate or
part of the cost towards a biometric ID)
Equipment for job / training course or course fees
Travel costs – e.g. for interviews / for first month of a new job until first pay
cheque received
Uniform/specialist clothing
CSCS cards
Mobile phone or top-up for employer contact
Specialist software
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Digital Inclusion
Initial data and our experience with tenants informed us that digital literacy was a
significant support need amongst Welfare Reform affected tenants. We recognise how
important digital literacy is to any job seeker and how it is also extremely important with
the roll out of Universal Credit as well as with Universal Job match.
We ensure:
All new Workwise tenants get support and assistance to set up an email
account
We provide informal IT support in our 1:1 ETE sessions
We hold regular group workshops using 12 refurbished laptops purchased
using the progression fund and have become a UK Online Centre
Tenants are signposted to Digibuddies sessions which run across Lambeth
including in Lambeth digital hubs
We refer clients to IT classes at MI Comput Solutions, High Trees, Ace of Clubs,
St Luke’s Hub, Lambeth College and St Mungo’s
Health
Many of our Workwise tenants have been unemployed for a considerable amount of
time which can often leave them feeling low and depressed. We have found that sport
and physical activity or meaningful use of time can make a positive difference to how
people feel about themselves. We encourage our clients to access free opportunities
such as SilverFit in Brockwell Park, the St Mungo’s Wellbeing Centre in Clapham for
complementary therapies and other Wellbeing activities. We have also encouraged
many clients to register with the Lambeth Leisure Pass scheme where they get
considerable concessions on gym and fitness classes in the borough (many didn’t
know this existed). We also encourage clients to obtain other offers that they are
entitled to such as discount oyster card if they are on a work related benefit and in
some cases a Freedom Pass.
Food bank
Workwise is an official referrer to the Lambeth Food bank. For some tenants who are
really struggling with a financial crisis at that moment this can really help. It can lessen
the load for our job seeking clients who often have a lot on their mind. We have visited
the West Norwood Food bank to learn more about how they operate and ensure we
make appropriate referrals. We provide vouchers to those clients who are most in
need. There are further Foodbanks based in Ferndale Road, Brixton and more recently
St Margaret’s church in Streatham.
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SHP Tenancy Support, Centre 70 and Money Champions
SHP Tenancy Support and Centre 70, also work on contracts with Lambeth Housing
Services and support Welfare Reform affected tenants at Union Road. We have
developed close links with them and work jointly to refer and support clients. The Work
Co-ordinators have attended SHP’s team meetings to promote the service to their
support workers and work alongside 2 Centre 70 staff on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
This has been an invaluable resource, as our clients often have significant housing,
benefit and debt problems which can make it hard to focus on employment. Partnering
with organisations such as these means we can offer a more holistic service where
clients can obtain support and progress in their lives and work.
Tenancy Sustainment
The majority of tenants referred to Workwise have had significant rent arrears due to
the shortfall in housing benefit as an impact of Welfare Reform. Many have faced pre
eviction and eviction panels and in many cases court proceedings. Other clients are
managing to stay on top of their rent but still desperately struggling financially. For
those that engaged with employment support, the risk of homelessness has greatly
reduced. As stated in the introduction, of the 297 households worked with since
01/02/15 to 31/10/16 100% have maintained their tenancy.
Workwise staff & Welfare Reform Team at Lambeth Housing Services