Kate (pseudonym) was made redundant from a well-paid job and was extremely anxious about losing her home due to a large mortgage commitment.

Kate was actively applying for jobs and getting interviews, but the feedback was that she needed to improve her digital skills in order to help secure the work she had experience of doing.  Kate had also been signing on at the Jobcentre and had been encouraged to apply for care assistant jobs. Kate felt these were not a match for her skills.

What we did: Through ongoing discussions the CHAI employability worker detected that due to Kate’s age the issues she was experiencing related more to confidence than her digital skills. However over ongoing phone conversations which revolved around Kate’s situation and anxiety, as well as her extensive experience, Kate would always come back to her lack of digital skills. So, our Development Worker sourced a course through SCVO, that would help Kate to recognise and enhance her skills in this area. Funding was secured though Capital Charitable Trust to cover some of the cost and included a CHAI SCVO membership discount. A similar course in the private sector would have come at a prohibitive cost, making it inaccessible to both Kate and CHAI.

Kate attended the course, a half-day interactive online workshop, which hugely boosted her belief in her digital skills. She then attended a job interview a few days later. The CHAI Development Worker assisted Kate with interview preparation. Kate was offered a three-month contract, which then resulted in a permanent role. This has given Kate a huge sense of achievement and relief and is helping Kate to move forward with her life.