Partnering with Ingeus means a lot more than simply gaining extra income. It opens new business development doors, enhances reputations, and offers practical support such as marketing and process improvement. Here we look at how our partnership with the CherryTree Foundation has brought benefits to both organisations – and the people we support every day.
From construction to fitness, to fibre optics engineering, the CherryTree Foundation offers training in skills sought by London employers.
So when Ingeus’s Central London Works team saw the social enterprise’s stand at a careers fair, it spotted an opportunity to support more participants on its Work and Health Programme (CLW WHP) contract.
After the Foundation’s presentation, via Teams, of its training offering, which also included personal fitness training, forklift truck operation and emergency first aid at work, it was signed up as a partner.
Since then CherryTree has gone on to work with Ingeus on its contracts for the JETS programme – launched primarily to help people who lost their jobs because of Covid-19 – and the Restart Scheme – the Government initiative to support people who have been unemployed for nine months or more.
“Working with Ingeus has been a real journey for us,” says Foundation General Manager Moye Ubor. “We didn’t know much about the Restart Scheme before our partnership with Ingeus but in the past year we have had 2,600 participants referred to us.
“Being associated with a big organisation like Ingeus, which has a direct connection to the Government through the Department for Work and Pensions, means people see us in a
different light and widens our scope. We now work across 15 London boroughs, and having access to Ingeus advisors, their centres and their candidates has brought us many benefits.
“They have supported us in ways such as promoting our courses at their centres and we have developed, not just in taking on more staff, but regarding how we perform and communicate with stakeholders and other partners.
“We are just one of many Ingeus partners but I know that how we work with participants, give feedback to Restart Advisors and support people to complete whatever their task is – to get a qualification, find a job, go back into education or just boost their self-confidence – means our reputation has grown as an organisation that keeps its promises. That’s why we’ve been recommended to partner the business on different employment support schemes. We are obviously getting it right!”
