People want to work – but it’s employment support, not sanctions, that’s needed to help
“Whilst Love London Working has come to an end, we’re embedding Active Inclusion into our nationwide employability support offer, helping to expand our reach, improve life chances and support more people into employment.”
By Victoria Whittle, Head of Jobs and Training at Clarion Futures
Over the last seven years, the Love London Working employment support programme delivered inspiring work in our capital city. Clarion was proud to be the lead partner on a programme that provided unemployed and economically inactive people living in the capital with the support they needed to join the labour market. We supported more than 26,000 unemployed Londoners with advice and training, with more than 8,100 finding work.
The programme formally ended on 31 December 2023 and now that the dust has settled, I’ve taken the opportunity to reflect on those seven years – the successes, the learnings and what we’ll take with us into the next chapter.
First of all, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach to employment support, and Love London Working is a case in point. Participants were paired with a specialist adviser and provided with a bespoke plan to get them into work and help them sustain employment for the long-term, with support from advisers lasting up to six months after they started in their role.
That ‘person-centred’ approach was taken one step further with our Active Inclusion programme, launched in September 2020. Building on initial learnings, this new strand of Love London Working supported residents with multiple needs. Considered to be some way from being ‘job-ready’, we helped them overcome barriers to work, including lack of digital literacy and functional skills, debt and mental health issues, as well as physical disabilities.
This holistic 360-degree support programme empowered individuals to achieve their goals through a journey tailored to them. It went on to be named ‘Tailored Employment Support Programme of the Year’ at the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) Employability Awards towards the end of last year, proving just how transformative this innovative approach has been.