New action to help Leamington women return to workplace

Sally Dhillon and Nishi Mehta, co-founders of the Kenilworth-based enterprise have secured a European Social Fund Community grant to run the Work Restart Programme which will be free to attendees.

It is aimed at women who have been out of work for at least six months and will prepare them for a return to work, whether that is through part-time or full-time employment or starting up a business or retraining.

Sally said: “We know from our own personal experiences how confidence ebbs away and uncertainties creep in when you try to find a job after taking time out for whatever reason.

“Our programme helps people to think about what they ideally want to do and get support to make it happen – including figuring out how to make a job work around specific family commitments, build confidence and the low-down of how to find what they’re looking for.”

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic means the organisers have needed to adapt the programme to deliver it remotely and flexibly to fit around home schooling and childcare.

Nishi said: “Whilst we’ll be running the programme online there will be lots of support and resources for each participant as well as live sessions each week for six weeks.”

Career-Mums have funding for 16 residents in Leamington and the surrounding area to take part in the programme starting later this month. They hope to repeat the success of their Work Restart Programme when they successfully supported 12 women into work despite the pandemic and retracted jobs market.

The programme is funded by the European Social Fund and the Education and Skills Funding Agency with the grants overseen by community charity, Groundwork UK, supported by the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

For more details, email info@career-mums.co.uk