Community Advice Service were awarded £4,850 through the Positive Futures Fund in November 2021 to deliver their pre-employment project ‘OK to Flourish’ for young migrant women who are either registered unemployed or economically inactive.
Community Advice Service (CAS) support migrant communities in the Black Country through a drop-in advice, information and guidance service. The ‘OK to Flourish’ project aims to bring migrant young women closer to the job market through increasing their confidence, exploring suitable career options, building networks, and working towards career aspirations. Anam, a project lead, explained:
“The project has been supporting young women with job coaching involving a personalised diagnosis followed by one-to-one guidance, volunteering opportunities, supporting individuals with job searching, updating CV’s, completing job application forms and preparing for job interviews. Each participant is guided by a Realising Employment Potentials Framework to ensure that they develop the necessary confidence, knowledge, and skills to enter the job market.”
The COVID-19 pandemic created uncertainty for those households on low-income or no income. There was a clear need for the ‘OK To Flourish’ project to support and encourage young women into employment. A beneficiary shared:
“I needed support to improve my CV and wanted to gain experience to work in an office to do Admin work. Joining the OK to Flourish employment project, I have now created a job plan, a CV and got a placement to gain experience.”
Anam concluded:
“Without the funding, disadvantaged young women especially from the migrant communities would not have had the employability coaching urgently needed for them to build their confidence and access a venue to come to for assistance with job search.
“To the Positive Futures Fund donors, we would like to say a big thank you for the opportunity you have provided us. It’s making a real and sustainable difference in a community where economic development assistance is urgently needed.”
If you’d like to apply for funding please view our Available Grants here.