During Humber Business Week, Shared Agenda – as part of Sewell Group – announced its latest initiative in partnership with Cat Zero; to provide paid work placements for young people aged 18 – 24 throughout the month of August.
Up to 20 individuals who are struggling to find employment will be given the opportunity to undertake a month of paid work across Sewell Group businesses to give them valuable experience in a bid to help them into the job market. They will be matched with different areas of the business from facilities management to construction, accountancy, HR and administrative support and given training to help them prepare for stepping into the roles.
Cat Zero is a Humber-wide charity committed to making lasting positive and personal change in the lives of children, young people, families and adults across the region. This latest project follows a £169,000 grant from the Youth Futures Foundation that Cat Zero were awarded earlier this year to help 14 – 24 year old’s into jobs.
Pete Tighe, Cat Zero Programme Manager, said:
“We work with some of the hardest to reach people in our communities, and they often start with anxieties, low self-esteem and other issues that make it difficult for them to have the confidence to put themselves out there into employment. Put Covid on top of that, and everything is heightened, so we knew we needed to do something to coach and support people back into the world again.
“Working with Sewell Group businesses to deliver this Summer Internship Programme is a fantastic opportunity for the young people involved to build up their work history, add vital experience to their CV and most importantly get their foot in the door in order to help them gain confidence to take with them into future employment.
“The individuals who are taking part are so excited to get involved, generally not having had an opportunity of this kind offered to them before. We are so looking forward to supporting them through this process and cannot thank Sewell enough for their continued enthusiasm to work with Cat Zero.”
Not only will the people involved get valuable experience in an area of work that interests them, made possible by the diversity of the Sewell Group, but they’ll have an in-depth induction, company overview and health & safety training. They’ll work within the business for four days a week, with the additional day saved for wider skills training and mentorship from inspiring leaders from across the Sewell Group.
The programme is just one of the wider Sewell Group’s commitments to promoting opportunities for the communities it serves and comes off the back of its recent Queen’s Awards win and announcement of plans to triple its investment in graduates, apprentices and trainees over the next five years in support of local economic recovery.
Jo Barnes, Managing Director of Sewell Estates said:
“We have decided to support a raft of work placements over the Summer to give people much needed experience to put on their CVs; we can’t provide employment opportunities for everyone at Sewell but we can certainly help develop candidates for other companies.
“As a Group that has been fortunate to have a stable order book during the pandemic, it’s only right that we play our part in the recovery of the places where we live and work.
“We hire on attitude and culture fit, with the understanding that the skills needed can be taught on the job. Young people contribute to energy levels and creative thinking that are hugely beneficial in business.”
The group of companies recently secured a Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for promoting Opportunity and are well known for championing social mobility. This partnership with Cat Zero is just one of many initiatives that Sewell Group drive not as a strategy or one-off, but as part of its core purpose as a business.
If you want to discover how you can tap into your own purpose-driven potential, you can now catch up on Sewell Group’s Humber Business Week event:
Purpose beyond profit: The real impact of doing the right thing. How a Queen’s Award for Enterprise could elevate your business.