Anthony has become more confident since joining Help to Work

Anthony joined Kennedy Scott's DWP co-financed European Social Fund Help to Work programme, after being referred by his Work Coach at the JCP office in Crawley. Anthony had not been in paid employment for six years due to health difficulties, during which period he had been working as a volunteer in a local charity shop, where he was highly regarded by all of the staff. Although Anthony enjoyed working in the voluntray role, he now hopes to move into paid employment.

Anthony was hindered in his job searching by not having an up to date CV. To help him overcome this barrier, Anthony worked with his Kennedy Scott Caseworker to update his CV and create cover letters to send to prospective employers. In between seeing his Caseworker, Anthony regularly attended an IT support centre, where he could access the internet and follow up the job searches he had done with his Caseworker.

Because Anthony likes to support his community, he was very interested in working for the Street and Parks Department at Crawley Council. His Caseworker contacted the HR Department at the Council offices to enquire about the possibility of doing a job trial, unfortunately this was not possible due to employee Health and Safety Rules at the Council. Although this was a disappointment, Anthony was not deterred and has been looking at other types of work.

Anthony has become more confident about applying for different jobs since coming on the Help to Work programme. He attended an Open Day at his Jobcentre with his Caseworker, and more recently, he successfully completed an eight week City and Guilds Course in Gardening.

With the support of his Caseworker, Anthony applied for a job with Shaw Healthcare, which resulted in a telephone interview that he was unfortunately unsuccessful for, however Anthony felt that he was uncomfortable on the telephone and would have performed better had it been a face to face interview. Anthony has decided that working within the Health and Social care sector is something he would like to do, and is actively pursuing work within the sector. To aid him in this, Kennedy Scott have helped Anthony to acquire his certificate of Basic Disclosure.

Anthony discussed his experience of being on the Help to Work programme with his caseworker, saying: "Help to Work has given me the confidence to see the bigger picture when applying for work, particularly as I am now over the age of 55. I also now have the confidence to talk to employers and tell them exactly who I am".

Anthony now has his Basic disclosure and is actively looking for work in the Health and Social care sector, with the aid of Kennedy Scott. Anthony and his caseworker are hopeful of finding work soon, his caseworker has promised to go through interview practice and give any extra support he may need to increase his chances of employment at his next interview.