Tag Archives: Landau

News

Unemployed urged not to give up at Shrewsbury prison event

Vulnerable people across Shropshire who face barriers to employment are being urged not to give up hope and seek support from a leading charity to help turn their lives around.

That was the message from former drug addict and ex-prisoner Steve Wyatt, who gave an inspirational and emotional talk at the opening of the Building Shropshire Summer Jobs Fair on Wednesday, July 20, at Shrewsbury Prison.

The event was organised by award-winning supported employment and training charity Landau to bring employers and job seekers together to help lower unemployment rates across the county and help businesses build back stronger from the pandemic.

Steve, who now runs his own successful business and has a partnership with Shropshire-based celebrity furniture restorer Jay Blades, spoke openly to business leaders about his 22-year addiction to drugs and how he changed his life for the better after reaching out for help and discovering his passion for furniture restoration.

He highlighted that for many people facing addiction, mental health issues or other challenges, finding the right job and passion can have the single biggest impact on their life and the ability to move forward.

He said: “For me, furniture saved my life. We all have our struggles whether it be addiction, mental health or something else but finding a passion is key. I knew what I wanted to do and if other people can find their passion with the support of employers and businesses then it will save lives.”

Landau, which won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2021 for promoting opportunity through social mobility, works alongside its partners with some of the region’s most vulnerable people, including ex-offenders, offering support and skills training to get them back into sustainable jobs.

More than 30 businesses exhibited at the jobs fair under the roof of Shrewsbury’s iconic prison and dozens of job seekers were in attendance.

Exhibitors covered a range of industry sectors including care, construction, retail and hospitality and there were more than 500 vacancies on offer.

Phil Taylor, Chief Operating Officer for Landau, said: “The jobs fair has been another huge success in the Building Shropshire campaign, and we are delighted that we have been able to support job seekers with their next career move and support businesses which have been facing recruitment challenges.

“Having Steve at the event has been hugely inspirational and we know his talk will resonate heavily with many people that are currently unemployed or those who are finding themselves at a crossroads in life for whatever reason.

“It is not always easy to know where to turn but here in Shropshire support is available for people and our employment advisors at Landau are always on hand to offer advice to individuals, put them in touch with the right organisations and help them to achieve the skills they need to get back into employment.

“We are also very fortunate to have a connected business sector in Shropshire with lots of opportunities and we are working with many employers in the area to ensure diversity in the workplace is at the top of their agenda, making it easier for more vulnerable people to gain sustainable employment.

“We hope that those attending will follow Steve’s heartfelt advice and not give up. Often the first step to turning your life around is to reach out for support and our doors are always open.”

Formerly from Birmingham, Steve’s journey started seven years ago when he admitted himself to rehab following a long addiction to drugs, which had seen him living rough on the streets and spending time in prison.

To help him recover, he began a 12-step treatment programme, and it was during this time that he learned the art of furniture restoration and his love for it.

It was also around this time that he met Jay Blades, host of BBC TV’s The Repair Shop and owner of furniture restoration company Jay & Co which has workshops in Ironbridge and Wolverhampton.

“I distinctly remember Jay asking me ‘what could you do different?’ and it really stuck in my head,” explained Steve.

Soon after he began restoring bits of furniture in his garden and selling them online. He then moved from Birmingham to Poole to be with his partner and just before the pandemic he opened a workshop in an antiques emporium.

In December 2020, he then got the keys for his first shop – Restored Retro – and since opening he has sold in the region of 400 individual pieces of furniture.

Throughout his journey, Steve has continued to receive support from Jay and within the last few months, the pair have struck up a new business partnership with Steve being one of only five UK stockists to sell Jay’s own collection of furniture.

The Building Shropshire project was launched by Landau earlier this year in partnership with Shropshire Council to support employers and job seekers across the county to build back stronger from the pandemic.

For more information about Landau and the support services it offers, visit  https://www.landau.co.uk/.

Charity & CSR, News

Shropshire jobs fair to host inspirational speaker

A former drug addict and ex-prisoner who turned his life around after meeting Shropshire-based celebrity furniture restorer Jay Blades will give an inspirational talk to job seekers at an event at Shrewsbury prison later this month.

Steve Wyatt, who has overcome a 22-year addiction to drugs, to follow his dream of running his own furniture restoration shop, will attend the Building Shropshire Jobs Fair on Wednesday, July 20, to encourage individuals to follow their dreams and not give up.

The event at Shrewsbury Prison will take place from 10am to 3pm and is being hosted by Shropshire-based supported employment and training charity Landau, which works with a range of vulnerable unemployed individuals, including ex-offenders, to get them back into work.

Phil Taylor, chief operations officer for the charity, said: “Steve’s story is quite remarkable, and we think he will provide a lot of inspiration to people who are currently unemployed or at a crossroads in their life and don’t quite know what to do or where to turn.

“His story is a magnificent example of how no matter how complicated and challenging life might seem, by not giving up hope and seeking the right support, you can change direction and turn things around for the better and we know that this will resonate with many individuals.

“As well as hearing about Steve’s own personal journey to success, those attending the jobs fair will be able to speak to a range of different employers from across the region about current vacancies or seek advice from our own employment advisors on training and job support. We’re here to help as many people as possible transition back into work or find more meaningful and sustainable employment.”

Formerly from Birmingham, Steve’s journey started seven years ago when he admitted himself to rehab following a long addiction to drugs, which had seen him living rough on the streets and spending time in prison.

To help him recover, he began a 12-step treatment programme, and it was during this time that he learned the art of furniture restoration and his love for it. It was also around this time that he met Jay Blades, host of BBC TV’s The Repair Shop and owner of furniture restoration company Jay & Co which has workshops in Ironbridge and Wolverhampton.

“I distinctly remember Jay asking me ‘what could you do different?’ and it really stuck in my head,” explained Steve.

“Soon after that I started restoring bits of furniture in my garden and selling them online. I’d moved from Birmingham to Poole to be with my partner and things were going well.

“Just before the pandemic, an opportunity for a workshop came up locally and this gave me a much bigger space for my restoration work. It was a challenge working with all the restrictions, but I continued to source and resell furniture.

“In December 2020 things moved on again and I opened my first shop Restored Retro, and I would say I’ve sold in the region of 400 pieces of furniture in the last 14 months alone which is just incredible.

Throughout his journey, Steve has continued to receive support from Jay and within the last few months, the pair have struck up a new business partnership with Steve being one of only five UK stockists to sell Jay’s own collection of furniture.

Steve said: “It’s been a hard journey I’m not going to lie, and I’ll never forget where I’ve come from, but I’ve achieved a lot and I think the message to other people who find themselves in a situation is to never give up. I just held onto what I wanted to do but I would not be here without the support of those around me and a dream to follow. I started with absolutely nothing.”

The Building Shropshire project was launched by Landau earlier this year in partnership with Shropshire Council to support employers and job seekers across the county to build back stronger from the pandemic.

More than 450 vacancies across various job sectors will be showcased at the event by more than 30 different employers which include Nationwide Building Society, Barclays Bank, Pave Aways Ltd, Wenlock Spring, Grainger and Worrell, JCA Adventure Condover Hall, Culina Logistics and The Wrekin Housing Group to name but a few.

For more information about Landau visit https://www.landau.co.uk/.

Health, Midlands, News

New scheme delivers £1million funding to support autism services in Birmingham and Solihull

Community organisations in Birmingham and Solihull are invited to bid for more than £1 million of funding to develop new services, which will improve the health and wellbeing of people with autism.

The All-Aged Autism Support Service is being led by Midlands-based supported employment and training charity Landau with funding provided by National Health Service England & NHS Improvement (NHSEI) in partnership with the Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group.

As part of the programme, community-based organisations will be invited to apply for grants so that they can improve existing services for people with autism and create new services.

Landau, which has its headquarters in Telford, will also develop a new service directory as part of the scheme to make it easier for people with autism, their parents, families and carers to understand what services exist in their local area and how they can gain access to them.

Sonia Roberts, CEO of Landau, said there was an urgent need to improve healthcare for people with autism and the new All-Aged Autism Support Service will be designed and produced by several highly experienced experts.

“National research shows that people with autism die on average 16 years earlier than the general population, which increases further if they have learning disabilities,” she said.

“Across Birmingham and Solihull there is a real determination to improve the quality and access to services provided to our autism community, so that we can begin to reverse this trend. This new scheme will not only improve but also increase the number of integrated community support services on offer.

“Crucially, it will provide more timely access to support and encourage self-management skills. It will be a complete game-changer, filling in the gaps that currently exist in autism service provision and bring about new innovative services — we are excited about the potential of this project.”

The All-Aged Autism Service was officially launched on Wednesday May 25, at The Tally Ho Conference Centre on Pershore Road, Birmingham.

Organisations that run autism services in Birmingham or Solihull that are interested in finding out more about the scheme or applying for grant funding can email allageautism.co.uk

The dedicated Service Directory will go live later this year and groups, organisations and businesses interested in being listed can also email allageautism.co.uk for further information.

Landau has been helping people with learning disabilities, including those with autism, into sustainable employment for the last 27 years.

Annually, it helps in the region of 3,000 vulnerable individuals back into the workplace or into training schemes through its specialist support.

In 2021 it was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its work in Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility).

Midlands News, News

Shropshire event celebrates success of £7.8 million Building Better Opportunities project

An event has been held to celebrate the success of a £7.8 million project in Shropshire, which has supported scores of vulnerable and isolated people back into employment and training and helped hundreds more build confidence and skills ready for the world of work.

The Building Better Opportunities (BBO) initiative has been led across the county by Wellington-based supported employment and training charity, Landau, in partnership with 18 different organisations.

Co-funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and the European Social Fund, the project, which aimed to reduce isolation, build confidence and support people into training and work, has provided support to a total of 2,459 individuals to date.

Over the duration of the programme, it has helped 549 people into employment; supported 1,155 people to gain skills for the world of work; reduced isolation for a further 545 people and created 137 jobs locally.

On Wednesday (May 4), those involved in the programme, gathered at Shrewsbury Town Football Club to celebrate its success and hear from individuals about their achievements.

Phil Taylor, chief operations officer for Landau, said the BBO programme had been a huge success.

“This project has been hugely important to those who have been long term unemployed. It was designed to support people from jobless households, people with disabilities and those with low basic skills by improving their wellbeing, confidence, mental health, helping with isolation and moving people closer to the jobs market.

“Here at Landau, we have been here to steady the ship, but this has been a collective effort through everyone’s hard work, and we have done a great job together. It has been a great success in Shropshire.”

Madeleine Spinks, CEO of the Data Orchard, which was tasked with providing an independent evaluation of the programme, said it was clear from the analysis that Building Better Opportunities had been successful in helping participants overcome several key challenges to employment.

She reported that at the start of the programme 41% of participants had a low life satisfaction (compared to 5% nationally) however, by the end of their time on the programme, this figure had dropped to 10%.

“This shows a great improvement in the way people felt about their lives after being involved in the programme,” she said.

National charity Small Woods Association, which operates its Green Wood Centre headquarters in Coalbrookdale, was among the partners attending the celebratory event.

The charity has been running its Build-a-Bench courses with funding through the BBO programme. It helps participants learn fresh skills, build confidence and meet new people while they receive support towards getting back into employment.

Participant Lizzie Fellows told the event that the initiative had been “life-changing”.

The 21-year-old had been suffering from anxiety, depression and agoraphobia and had felt extremely isolated throughout the Covid pandemic.

“Being referred to Small Woods was one of the best things that has ever happened to me,” she said.

“I visit once a week and it is the highlight of my week — I want to be there every day. It has brought life into my life.”

Amanda Lickorish has also been a participant on the BBO programme and has received support from project partner Crowsmill Craft Centre C.I.C near Bridgnorth.

Amanda was suffering similar challenges to Lizzie after relocating to Shropshire from Oxfordshire and despite being previously employed and running her own craft-related courses, she was finding it difficult to gain the confidence she needed to work.

However, the team at Crowsmill, which supports people to learn new skills and build confidence through a range of crafts including carpentry, welding, blacksmithing and metalwork, helped Amanda turn her life around.

She said: “It never occurred to me that I would be a user of this kind of service especially as I used to provide craft services myself. I started the programme feeling completely out of my comfort zone but in no time at all the place really got under my skin.

“They helped me gain the confidence I needed to get back in touch with who I was. It’s so unique, so friendly and I did not want to leave when my time on the programme came to an end, so I have now become a volunteer teacher there.”

Dickon Pitt, director of Crowsmill, added: “We’ve been delighted to be involved with the BBO programme. Through the BBO journey participants have demonstrated increased self-esteem alongside new skills acquisition. This belief in themselves has enabled them to take up a range of volunteering opportunities and as a result they have been able to move forward with their lives.”

The BBO programme has been running in Shropshire since 2017 after Landau won the bid to deliver the project.

To showcase its success, Landau is currently in the process of editing an inspirational book that will highlight the achievements of many of those involved.

For more information about Landau, the BBO programme and other projects it manages visit the website https://landau.co.uk.

News

Shell Store welcomes more than 100 businesses for Landau

Hereford’s Shell Store has hosted its biggest business event to date — opening its doors to more than 100 organisations for a jobs and networking fair organised by employment and training charity, Landau.

Television presenter and former Top Gear host Richard Hammond, who owns a motor restoration and engineering business on Skylon Park, formally opened the event on April 27.

Nearly 50 businesses with job opportunities exhibited under the iconic steel roof of the Shell Store business incubation centre for the Landau event, which was supported by the Marches Growth Hub business support service and Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce.

Exhibitors covered a range of industries and sectors and included Balfour Beatty, Wye Valley NHS Trust, Barclays Bank, Lidl and West Mercia Police.

As well as businesses with job opportunities and dozens of job seekers attending the event, Landau said more than 90 people had registered to attend a business networking session that was held as part of the event.

Phil Taylor, chief operations officer for Landau, said: “We’re very grateful to Richard Hammond for coming along to open our event at the Shell Store. It was the perfect venue for our exhibitors to share details of jobs they have on offer and for new and growing businesses to network, some of them for the first time since pandemic restrictions lifted.

“As a charity that works to prepare people for employment, the event was also a chance for attendees to meet with employability experts and organisations that can help job seekers maximise their skills to achieve their job goals.”

Mark Pearce, managing director of Skylon Park, Hereford Enterprise Zone, added: “We have held several high-profile events at the Shell Store in recent months, but this was the best attended yet and really showcased the facilities that we can offer businesses.

“Landau put on a fantastic event, supported by the Zone and Marches Growth Hub team and it was great to see the car park full and a good mix of businesses networking and sharing opportunities.”

Landau annually helps in the region of 3,000 individuals back into the workplace or into training schemes through its specialist support. Last year it was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its work in Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility).

Midlands News, News

New training and enterprise centre opens in Shropshire

A new skills and enterprise training centre has officially opened in Shropshire with the ambition of supporting hundreds of young people into work or education over the next five years.

The new Landau Training and Enterprise Centre in Wellington will allow people who are currently not in work or education the opportunity to gain hands-on practical experience in several sectors including construction, hospitality and hair and beauty.

A fully-equipped hair salon, nail bar, café, construction skills suite and various teaching spaces feature in the new facility, which is located in the former Barclays Bank building on Church Street.

Award-winning charity Landau, which will operate the facility, has also moved its headquarter operations from the town’s Tan Bank to the new, larger site.

The investment demonstrates the charity’s ongoing commitment to skills and training in the county and forms part of its ambitious plans to get more than 500 young people upskilled and into work.

A ribbon cutting ceremony marked the opening of the centre on Friday, April 29, with the Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire, Anna Turner, doing the honours. She was accompanied at the event by Shropshire’s High Sheriff Selina Graham.

A number of civic dignitaries were also in attendance including Telford & Wrekin Mayor Councillor Amrik Jhawar, Mayor of Oakengates Councillor Stephen Reynolds and former Mayor of Wellington Councillor Anthony Lowe.

Landau Chief Executive Sonia Roberts said the new training and enterprise centre would play a significant role in helping to raise educational attainment across the county by providing a range of opportunities for young people who are currently unemployed or not in education.

“Landau has a successful track record of supporting people through training and into sustainable employment regardless of any barriers that they may have encountered previously, and this new facility will enable us to expand that support to help even more people,” she said.

“It marks a real milestone in our delivery and demonstrates our continued commitment to promoting opportunities and changing lives.”

Elliot Shipley (21) has been receiving support from Landau for the last three years after the transition from school to college proved too challenging for him.

He is among the first group of learners to move into the new building and is currently taking part in the Landau Study Programme.

He will sit his Level 2 exams in English and Maths next month before progressing onto the IN2 programme which supports young people into further education and employment.

He said: “I would not be where I am today without the support of Landau. I aspire to be a paramedic one day, but I did not suit a mainstream college, so Landau have helped me to fulfil my potential. I’m a really caring person and to be able to help someone in their hour of need is my dream so they’re helping me to achieve that.”

The new centre will offer training in a range of vocational qualifications including NOCN Entry Level 3 Introduction to Construction; Level 1 and 2 in Customer Services; NOCN Beauty and Hospitality accredited qualifications and VTCT awarded NVQs up to Level 3 in Hair and Beauty, as well apprenticeships and certificates in general functional and employability skills.

For more information on the courses and training available, visit https://www.landau.co.uk/.

Landau works in partnership with a number of organisations across the Shropshire area to deliver its projects and support services and last year it was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its work in Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility).

Job Opportunities, Jobs, Midlands News, News

Job seekers invited to Herefordshire employment event

Supported employment and training charity, Landau, has announced further details to its latest job fair in Hereford, which aims to support even more people into the workplace.

The charity is hosting the event on April 27 at the Shell Store in Rotherwas and has secured more than 40 businesses to promote their latest employment opportunities.

Exhibitors cover a range of industries and sectors and include Balfour Beatty, Wye Valley NHS Trust, Barclays Bank, Lidl and West Mercia Police.

Caroline Richardson, head of employment services at Landau, said: “We’re excited to be bringing back our job fair to the Hereford region, after such a successful event last autumn.

“We know times are tough across the job market, so we wanted to bring together a wide range of hiring businesses for job seekers to speak to directly and make those all-important connections.

“Alongside the jobs fair, attendees will be able to speak with employability experts and organisations that can help job seekers maximise their skills and achieve their objectives.”

The event opens at 10am for a networking session, where business leaders can connect and collaborate with other employers, while the job fair opens to prospective employees at 12 noon.

The free event is being delivered in partnership with The Marches Growth Hub, Hereford Enterprise Zone and Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce.

Landau annually helps in the region of 3,000 individuals back into the workplace or into training schemes through its specialist support. Last year it was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its work in Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility).