Linsey hadn’t worked since she left a retail job at 19 years old, and was 25 when she joined the Learning Hub at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, as a single mother.

The Learning Hub assists unemployed people within the community back into work, providing pre-employment training, advice and guidance.

Linsey had no confidence and little idea what she wanted to do. The Learning Hub gave her opportunities, showed her what was available and potential careers. She was offered a work placement course called Activate, a five-week pre-employment programme comprising classroom sessions and work experience. After completion Linsey applied for an apprenticeship within the Trust, with an opportunity to gain a business administration NVQ 2. Her application was successful.

Linsey completed her apprenticeship with Ambulatory Care and was offered a post as an admin assistant. Later, she moved to a day-case ward and decided to progress further as a support secretary, working with consultants and patients. She undertook AMSPAR, a level 3 admin qualification at evening school. Linsey qualified as a medical secretary and worked at this until her manager suggested she studied for a foundation degree in business management. Having completed this Linsey is now a team leader and office manager of medical secretaries.

Linsey said: “I owe the Hub a lot, for believing in me when no one else did. The Journey to your career path isn’t an easy one but if you are lucky enough to have a second chance like I did or be given an opportunity… take it, you never know where it will take you.”

After completing the programme Tyrone successfully secured a job in NI Direct (BT delivered contract) as a Customer Service Representative and has remained committed to helping out on the BT Work Ready programme in Derry.

He supports the work placements for the Derry Work Ready programme by working on a one-to-one basis with the participants. Feedback from the young people he has worked with is that he talks about the importance of the programme and what it has meant for him, a true Ambassador.

Tyrone is progressing well in his career, consistently being rated highly by his line manager, exceeding targets and offering excellent customer service. He has also taken on a more varied and complex workload over the past 18 months. He started answering calls for 4 different Government Departments, now he takes calls for 20 including Courts, Prisons, Social Security and the DVA.

His manager said of him: “What is striking about Tyrone is his desire to learn and progress and it’s this desire that helps Tyrone overcome any obstacles that come in the way of this learning. We see many young people who progress well after our programme but his continued passionate and vocal support of our programme and his drive to develop and grow personally is what makes him stand out.”

Oriana is an alumnus of Centrica’s Movement to Work programme and is the “beating heart” of engagement at their Manchester Contact Centre. Working in a customer service agent role, Oriana ensures customers receive top notch service day in and out. Above her core role responsibilities, Oriana was selected to be the engagement champion for her site, a key role that has support to create a great environment on site.

In a short space of time Oriana has demonstrated that she is a high performer and continues to grow her skills by covering for managers when able to. Those that work with Oriana have described her as responsible, ambitious, conscientious and an embodiment of our company values.

Oriana’s passion for the programme and company is clear, and her infectious enthusiasm has inspired many around her. We are really proud to employ Oriana and look forward to seeing her career continue to flourish.

Sam Xavier Crawford is 27 years old from Lewisham. He participated in the Diageo Learning for Life program. Sam was unemployed for 4 months prior to the course, had previous experience working in a family pub in his teenage years and went on to study Catering. He was looking for another type of work that used his interest in hospitality and his creative skills.

Sam thrived on the Diageo Learning for Life course, and was placed at London Cocktail Club in Shoreditch. He has been working for them since, and is now a Bar Supervisor.

Cameron completed the Diageo Learning for Life Bartending & Hospitality Course in Glasgow. He had previously studied Acting and Performance at college and had held various retail and call centre jobs, but was looking for direction – an opportunity to develop and find a career he loved. He completed the course and his bubbly personality and successful placement at Blythswood Square Hotel allowed him to gain a job there. He is one of the Food and Beverage team within this luxurious city centre hotel.

James Bray is 22 years old from Greenwich. Prior to his participation in Diageo Learning for Life, James had struggled to find work and had an interest in Cocktails and Bar service but no experience in the hospitality industry. James’ confidence grew during the course and he was placed at The Lancaster Hotel, working in the Food and Beverage team on the breakfast shift. This was the opposite of what he wanted but he took it to gain experience, and after approximately 7 months was successful at interview for a Barback role at The Ivy.

Holly Gilbert, 22 years old from Hendon is a former participant of the Diageo Learning for Life program. Due to being a single parent Holly found it difficult to gain employment local to her that worked with her childcare needs. Holly was placed in Hendon Hall, a Hand Picked Hotel, for her work experience and was offered work in their Food & Beverage conferencing and events team. She was employed and has worked there since.

After 2 years she is now looking to move on to progress her career in hospitality. Holly also undertook a Nepal Trek to raise funds to help continue our work with young people.

I took part in the Movement to Work (MtW) initiative with HMRC. My placement was with Debt Management (DM). Having discussed my interest in working within the Civil Service (CS) with my Job Centre work coach, he recommended MtW as a way of deciding if the CS would be a place I would enjoy to work, where I wouldn’t feel too pressured and was able to thrive and gain confidence after such a long period of unemployment.

My placement was for a 6-week period, during this time I had the opportunity of shadowing LAST (Debt Enforcement), Complaints, Compliance, CCP, Hidden Economy and the Accelerated Payments and Direct Recovery of Debt teams.

I was able to ask people about their experiences with HMRC as an employer, how they came to be in the role they were in and what their job role day to day involved.
In addition to the shadowing I received assistance with CV writing and interview techniques, which helped me secure employment over the Christmas period with the Royal Mail.

Prior to my MtW placement I’d been unemployed for nearly 2 years, partly due to ill health. The MtW mentors helped build my confidence regarding employability and demonstrated full time employment wasn’t as intimidating as I’d begun to perceive it to be.

A short time after my placement, the MtW manager in LAST contacted me regarding a job advert within the department. I was able to both use the competencies I’d written and utilise the interview techniques I’d practiced during the placement.

I was successful at securing a job, and have been working in DM for 15 months. I’m lucky enough to be working in the very unit my MtW placement was based. I’m very grateful to the MtW team for their support and encouragement and enjoy continuing learning from & working alongside them on a daily basis.

Umit Ekinoglu is an Application Development New Associate for Accenture Technology. Since joining Accenture as part of the Apprenticeship Programme, Umit has consistently demonstrated an inspiring dedication to his work and a deep desire to learn. Furthermore, Umit has positioned himself as a ‘go to’ person for a range of responsibilities, building upon his experience and using it to empower others.

Umit’s journey to his current position is not only impressive, but also a reminder that we can achieve anything we want when we truly set our minds to the task at hand.

He grew up in Annitsford, a small rural village located in North Tyneside, close to Cramlington, where he attended high school. The school provided a stable learning environment for Umit and enabled him to realise his goal of attending University, making him the first of his family to do so.

Initially, Umit considered a career in the sports industry, but after completing his degree in Sport and Exercise Science, he struggled to find his place in the world.

While he had always been interested in computers, it wasn’t until he discovered the Movement to Work Get into Digital programme that Umit began to think about a career in technology. The two-week Get into Digital programme opened his eyes to the potential of a tech-based career, and improved Umit’s self-confidence and belief in his own abilities. This is something Umit had battled with throughout his whole life, as he would often attribute success to good luck rather than his own hard work and determination.

Following his completion of the Get into Digital programme, Umit unfortunately learned he had just missed the recruitment window for the Accenture Apprentice Programme. He was advised to continue improving his computer skills, work on his confidence and communication skills, and apply for the programme in a year’s time. He immediately enrolled in a Computing course at Newcastle College, enthusiastically throwing himself into his studies. Umit also stayed in touch with people he had met during the Get into Digital programme, including Accenture staff, updating them with his progress and the status of his apprenticeship application.

The tutors at Newcastle College always had great things to say about Umit, noting his attendance and his dedication and application to his studies were second to none.

”After a year of studying, Umit was invited to an Assessment Centre, and successfully gained a place on the Accenture Apprenticeship Programme. The programme allowed Umit to undertake his Degree Apprenticeship studies and full-time employment, which provided what he calls a “priceless experience”.

Umit was quite nervous when he joined the Apprenticeship programme due in part to the large gaps in his knowledge in relation to the area of computing he was studying. His mentor warned him about the extremely steep learning curve of DevOps but notes that since day one, Umit was always very keen to learn and flourished in all aspects of his work. His mentor recognises Umit as an outstanding apprentice who started producing work for use in the production environment within a few months of working within the DevOps team. During his apprenticeship, Umit created the team’s monitoring and dashboard system, took the lead on the team’s automated VPN deployment and helped improve security for users, and successfully passed his AWS Cloud Practitioner exam. This was all in addition to his college work, and his mentor rightfully acknowledges his success as an “impressive feat”.

Umit didn’t use the Apprenticeship to just advance his technical skills however, as he wisely leveraged the opportunity to work with a variety of people to improve his confidence and communication skills. Umit’s mentor notes that during the programme, Umit would lead stand-up presentations, and he is now known as the ‘go to’ guy for several tasks such as VPN requests.

At present, Umit is an essential member of a DevOps team working on an important government account. He is AWS Certified and able to steer his career in the direction he wants to take it. He’s building truly innovative experiences for the client, and his day to day work varies greatly. From securing virtual machines in the cloud, to issuing certificates and credentials, Umit loves the diversity of the work and its challenging nature.

Yet his passion for technology and computing does not stop there, as he not only taught himself C# in his spare time but also created technical workshops on basic HTML, CSS and Java. These workshops are now used by the same Movement to Work programme Umit completed, and Umit is on hand during open days to explain his journey to new participants and reveal how the Apprenticeship programme changed his life.

Umit has achieved quite a lot in the short time since he joined the Get into Digital programme, but his self-admitted proudest achievement speaks volumes to his character: the change and impact he has made on others by getting involved with career fairs, the Get into Digital programme and technical workshops. Umit knows how difficult it can be to find a career you’re truly passionate about, but he’s successfully completed this journey and understands what it takes to excel. He now has what it takes to inspire and nurture ideas in other people, so they feel positive about their decisions and empowered to achieve anything they put their mind to. Helping young people to imagine for themselves all that they can do and accomplish, this is Umit’s proudest achievement.