National charity welcomes welfare reform

Speaking after the Department for Work and Pensionsí chose to announce the Billís publication at Shaw Trust’s Employment Project in East London today (July 4th), Shaw Trust Chief Executive Ian Charlesworth was quick to praise the Government for taking action. ìThe Welfare Reform Green Paper pointed out that after two years on Incapacity Benefits, a person is more likely to die or retire than to find a new job. Everyone agrees that reform is long overdue and very much needed,î he said. ìNow we look forward to the swift passage of the Bill, and early implementation of the legislation. The emphasis on the inclusion of the third sector is particularly welcome, as this is what will deliver the best results both for our clients and tax payers.î

But he urged the Government to provide sufficient resources: ìActions will speak louder than words, and the good intentions of this Bill could still come to nothing if the right funding isn’t made available to support the programme. The previous system - which effectively kept people away from work, and created a huge benefits cost - made little economic or social sense. Pathways To Work has proven its value in pilot projects, and is a real chance to radically improve thousands of lives and breathe new life to some of the most deprived parts of the UK.

ìNow there is an opportunity to build a consensus on the issue, and change peopleís lives for the better. In East London, Shaw Trust has already shown the kind of difference we can make if we’re given the chance. It’s now up to MPs to give us the opportunity to show the difference we can make across the country.î DWP announced the publication of the Welfare Reform Bill at the Shaw Trust Employment Project, in Stratford, East London, where the Minister met some of the 45,000 people Shaw Trust help across the country each year.

The Burford Business Centre-based Project is one of over 120 delivered by the Trust, which is the UKís leading provider of employment services to people disadvantaged in the labour market due to disability, ill health or social circumstance.

The Project has been in operation since the outset of New Deal for Disabled People and supports thousands of people. It is now registering around 100 clients and celebrating an average 30 to 35 job starts every single month. Area Client Services Manager Lee Hayday and his 19 staff provide a range of services, including Job Broking and Workstep and the team has just won ESF funding to support 100 Newham people with disabilities back into work over the next two years.

Former city financial and commercial recruitment senior manager Lee Hayday took a 50% pay cut to join Shaw Trust four years ago, but he says heís a much richer person now.

ìI know it sounds like feel-good sycophancy, but money canít buy the satisfaction I, and all my team, get from what we do,î says the 40 year-old who is Area Client Services Manager for Shaw Trust Employment. ìIn my old job I was bored, not achieving anything and not enjoying the ethic of what I was doing.

ìThe first person I assisted into work with Shaw Trust was a former childrenís nurse who was a recovering alcoholic whoíd had a nervous breakdown and was sure that she had no chance of getting a job after eight years out of the market.

ìWe worked on her CV, her motivation and her confidence. When she heard sheíd got a full time job at a childrenís hospice, she walked into my office, hugged me so hard she nearly cracked my ribs and said ëYouíve changed my lifeí. You canít buy that feeling.î

Lee, who was born in West Ham and now lives in Redbridge, says he and his team get that buzz every time they see a client turn their life around.

ìTo be able to support even more people would be wonderful,î he adds.