Employment

Aalia Ali, 30, had been unemployed for over 3 years

Although Ali had an NVQ Level 2 in Business Administration, she had found it difficult to find work.

Ali first heard about Five Lamps in March 2010 through Cultures, who signed her up to Five Lamps’ Communities Fund programme in Stockton.

Cultures work with people from disadvantaged black and minority ethnic (BME) and refugee communities to help them find work and access training. Aalia attended a course ran by Cultures called RAWE (Raising Awareness of British Work Ethics), which gave her an insight into what is expected when applying for jobs in this country.

Aalia said

“The course helped to improve my confidence and motivation to find work”.

After Aalia attended the course, she was further supported by Cultures on a regular basis to do job searches, write her CV and improve her language skills.

Aalia became so interested in the work of Cultures that when a job came up with them, she applied. Since June 2010, she has been working for them as an Employability Support Worker and has just completed her 26 week job retention. Aalia said “I feel very fortunate that I have found work with Cultures as I receive a lot of in-work support”.

Five Lamps supports organisations like Cultures by referring customers who need specialist support and by provding funding direct to Cultures to enable them to run the RAWE course.

Thanks to funding from the lottery, Five Lamps now has a base within Stockton town centre.

With support from Stockton Council, Five Lamps secured funding to refurbish 32 Dovecot Street, a Grade II listed local authority building. The building was officially opened in March 2010 by by Helen Goodman, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Work and Pensions and Minister responsible for financial inclusion.

The refurbishment of the building was funded by a £363,612 Community Assets grant and a £30,000 loan from the Social Enterprise Loan Fund. 32 Dovecot Street has created a focal point within Stockton for all Five Lamps’ services including assistance into employment, young people’s services, financial inclusion advice and access to affordable credit and assistance into self-employment.

Five Lamps aims to support 4,000 customers a year from the newly-refurbished building, along with supporting other local voluntary and community groups with office and meeting space.

Graeme Oram, Five Lamps Chief Executive said

“The newly-refurbished building provides much needed space for us to deliver these life-changing services to our communities. We appreciate the support provided by Stockton Council to secure this funding to progress this project.”