Mayor toasts employment scheme that is Working Well

Job seekers from the Greater Manchester Working Well programme were congratulated by the Mayor of Bury, Councillor Mike Connolly.

The five local people - Alison Evans, Gary Miller, John Farmer, Karen Fletcher and Shelly-Ann Good – were welcomed to the mayor’s parlour for a celebratory cuppa.

The Working Well programme is delivered across Greater Manchester and aims to remove barriers to seeking work. This could be because of debt, bereavement, housing problems, lack of confidence or out-of-date skills.

Established in March 2016, this is a flagship programme of Devolution Manchester and will help many more people in the years to come.

Employment and skills specialists Ingeus has been commissioned to provide the intensive support in Bury to move unemployed residents into work.

There have been many success stories. WW client Gary has now secured employment with the council, while Alison, Shelly-Ann and John are now working for a company in Bury, and Karen is confident of getting a job very soon.

Cllr Connolly said: “It’s a pleasure to meet Bury people who have overcome barriers and are on the way to better things through the world of work.

“Work is good for people, not just financially but because of the added benefits such as having a constructive routine, meeting new people and learning new skills.

“We contributed to the design and funding of this programme because we believe that all our residents can benefit from the additional health and well being benefits that work can bring.”

For more information on Working Well email investinbury@bury.gov.uk

ENDS

Press release issued: 3 August 2016.

Picture: Working Well at the mayor’s parlour (front, from left) Simone Starr (fromWorking Well); Shelly-Ann Good; Alison Evans; John Farmer; Tracey Flynn (from Bury Council); Karen Fletcher, Gary Miller, and Anthony Smirk (Working Well). At the back are (from left) Cllr Mike Connolly; Amanda Huntbach (Bury Council); and Robert Jones (Ingeus Working Well manager).