SMART WORKS (GREATER MANCHESTER) 

Refurbishment of a building for a charity which works with disadvantaged minority communities in Greater Manchester

Smart Works supports unemployed women on their job search with coaching support pre-interview in addition to interview styling and coaching, with the outcome of improving the woman's confidence and ....more

Smart Works supports unemployed women on their job search with coaching support pre-interview in addition to interview styling and coaching, with the outcome of improving the woman's confidence and skills and thus chances of job success. This project will enable us to support more clients from Fallowfield and Rusholme by focused outreach, linking in with other organisations and community groups to develop new referral partner relationships and to make local residents aware of how we can support them at this critical time in their search for employment. The grant will mainly be used to fund 36 days of staff time on outreach work within that community, getting to know the area, identifying and meeting potential referrers and clients and getting involved in local events/ workshops to promote the services available, the balance will be spent on relevant and focussed promotional materials. We will support at least 50 women with Pre-Employment Jobhelp and /or styling and interview support, to feel more prepared for their interview and much more confident about their ability to succeed at interview, with the aim of 50% of unemployed local women who've received our styling and interview coaching service to secure a job within a month.

A coaching service helping unemployed women.

The primary objective of our project will be to build skills and confidence. Our dressing and coaching service builds self-esteem and raises the aspirations of every women we see. Our service has a ....more

The primary objective of our project will be to build skills and confidence. Our dressing and coaching service builds self-esteem and raises the aspirations of every women we see. Our service has a direct and tangible outcome as it is focused on ensuring a woman can succeed in her job interview and enter employment. We are able to measure and report on this outcome. In the last year, we know that 96% of our clients felt more confident after their visit and 62% went on to get a job within a month, and we would aim to replicate these numbers for this project. There is also a clear link to objective 2, health and wellbeing. During this project, we will have been able to reach more disadvantaged women with health issues in the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester. These women will be more aware of their own abilities, overcome perceived barriers that prevent their entry into the workplace and take a clear step towards fulfilling their potential. Finally, by enabling vulnerable women to enter employment we hope to build the social networks of our clients, which aligns with objective 3. Being employed often enables a woman to be connected with a diverse range of people and may provide her with access to events and forums where she can extend her Network.

We seek funding for a part time Outreach Executive to carry out targeted outreach to all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester.

Additional funding will help us open five days a week instead of three, making a difference to women's lives.