Derbyshire Success Stories

Success Stories from TBG Learners

I T

Age is no barrier to learning!

This New Year Judy Holland has achieved her New CLAIT certificate and is looking forward to completing her OCR Diploma in ICT Level 1 in the next few months.

Judy says, “I enjoy coming to TBG Learning and at 86 I don’t expect too much of myself but I am determined to finish the course. I started from scratch with Switch On and progressed to New CLAIT. It can be frustrating sometimes and quite hard work but John is very patient with me as I have always been used to achieving, not struggling. I would say to anyone come and have a go!”

Judy’s tutor, John Moylan says of her “Judy is a delight to have at our learning centre and proves that age is no barrier to learning”

e2e - Entry to Employment

Simon exceeds all expectations

When Simon Todd began his e2e course in January 2005, he had very low self confidence and few expectations. He had a slow start but worked hard to achieve his Level 2 Literacy and Numeracy and began to turn his life around, growing in confidence and developing his communication skills.

“e2e is not like school! You get practical support and advice from the tutors and your Connexions Personal Advisor throughout your course. I used to mess about at school” says Simon “I know what I need to achieve and make the right choices for the future”

After an initial setback, Simon was offered a job as a Kitchen Porter at Winmarleigh an NFT Travel residential training centre in Preston. He had to fight hard to gain the position and his perseverance paid off. He moved to Preston to start a new job and a new life in January 2007.

“We are very proud of Simon, he has worked hard to gain his qualifications and find a good job. He has developed a more mature attitude and taken responsibility for his future” says Rachael La Forge e2e tutor.

Daniel’s future is looking good.

Daniel Simms came to TBG Derby’s e2e programme in January 2007 with the aim of improving his Literacy, Numeracy and then move on to either work or training. Within a couple of months he was offered a job in catering, something he had always wanted to do and is now happy in his role as an apprentice Commis Chef at Morley Hayes.

“e2e wasn’t just about Maths and English. I gained a lot of confidence and made some good friends. Looking for the right job is really important too, I saw the job advertised at Morley Hayes and thought it would be good as I was already working in catering at the Derby County ground at home games. This experience has helped develop my customer service skills.

I’m not sure if catering is my long term career plan but I am really enjoying it and it’s a good place to work. The team I work with is really happy and we get on well.

I bought a mobile phone with my first wage and now I’ve got my provisional licence and I am saving up for a bike”

Daniel will be going on to college on day release in September for an NVQ Level 2 with Key Skills. His tutor Paul Vernon says “Daniel was 100% committed from day one, he was never late or absent. We gave him the telephone and interview skills which helped to build his confidence. He wanted to improve himself and he put in all the hard work”

Jobcentre Plus

Nine job outcomes in three days

For some weeks TBG had been attempting to arrange a meeting with the Contractors for the Derby Hospitals with little success. Here is the story of how our Job Brokers turned this around to achieve 9 jobs in 3 days!

Day one:
Wednesday - we discovered that Blue Arrow had recently been awarded the Contract to support Medirest and one position was now advertised on the Jobcentre Plus website.

Our Job Broker sprang into action and called the Recruitment Manager in Nottingham who revealed further vacancies with a Monday start date.

Taking the initiative, our Job Broker made arrangements for the Blue Arrow Team to conduct their initial assessments of our learners at TBG in Gower Street. A group of twelve hopefuls where assembled and briefed ready for interview the next day.

Day Two:
Thursday - our learners met with the Blue Arrow Team. The current Job Opportunities were explained and application forms handed out, together with a questionnaire on Health & Safety and Basic Food Hygiene. With a little assistance from the TBG team, all paperwork was completed and taken away by Blue Arrow for analysis.

Day Three:
Friday - nine successful learners were invited to undertake a telephone interview which was completed by lunch-time. The successful applicants invited to meet at TBG on Monday to commence their induction. They arrived smartly dressed and ready for work.

All the TBG Learning New Deal contract team wish them success in their new jobs!

New job, new qualifications and new friends for Anthony

Anthony Jones started TBG on 23rd October 2006. Unable to find a job he was nervous about starting the Literacy and Numeracy course and had not been in a classroom environment for many years.

Anthony says, “I settled down and started to learn how to do maths and English again with my tutor Robin. He has been very helpful to me to gain my maths entry level 2. Allan helped me with my job search and filling in application forms to try to gain employment. I am eternally grateful to Sally for finding me employment with ISS, which I started on the 16th December. I've made loads of new friends while I have been here and I hope to keep in touch with TBG. Thanks to TBG for all the help and support.

Lewis is ready to find the right job!

Lewis Alexander joined a Jobcentre plus Literacy and Numeracy course with very low English and maths skills and little self confidence. During his time with TBG he has improved his hand writing, a skill he is now very proud of. He has also improved his numeracy skills to a standard were he can now budget his own money.

On coming to TBG, Lewis had few job searching skills but over 16 weeks he has worked with the tutors to apply for jobs, improve his spoken English and use the telephone with confidence. He has created a CV and learnt how to write letters to apply for vacancies from the internet and weekly newspaper. He is proud of the achievements he has made and is more confident when talking to employers and colleagues.

Robin Lyons, Literacy and Numeracy tutor says “I was pleased with Lewis’s progress, when he first came to us he was very shy and had little self esteem. On leaving us he had grown in confidence and improved his Literacy and Numeracy skills and is now capable of actively job searching and has greatly improved his job prospects. We wish Lewis all the best in his search for the right job”

Click here for 2006 Success Stories