Helping Rob find his new direction
4 Mar 2025
Rob from Burnley freely admits he didn’t know whether he was coming or going, or in which direction to turn when fate led him to read an Ingeus leaflet in his local Jobcentre Plus. It took him to the
Work and Health Programme, keyworker Sarah, and employer specialist Arlene who together helped Rob plot his new route back to work. ‘They really helped me, I could finally see another way to go,’ he says.
Rob’s tumultuous past health issues saw him requiring a pacemaker, managing asthma and epilepsy, and leaving his physically demanding warehousing job. It was his family, the ‘good people’ around him, that he consistently turned to, but with the subsequent deaths of his gran and dad, and with his sister unexpectedly losing her sight, it was a prolonged bad patch that Rob struggled to navigate.
“My Ingeus keyworker Sarah got me back on track, encouraging me to attend my appointments and to start taking steps forward,” says Rob. “It gave me something else to focus on.
“I attended health related workshops on the importance of routine and sleep. Sarah helped set up an email address and arranged an IT course as I’m not very technical. She helped me put together a CV and got all my missing documentation in place. We did mock interviews, applied online for jobs and I attended a six week series of employability courses Sarah ran. Going from nothing, I suddenly had all this help.”
In the meantime, employer account manager Arlene talked at length with Rob about work interests and the considerations of his health conditions. With close links to a local cleaning agency that was searching for a warehouse cleaner, Arlene suggested the cleaning role and Rob, keen to take the next step into work, jumped at the chance.
After being unemployed for nine years, he began work at the warehouse at the end of 2024, doing 6am-12pm daily shifts. It’s an early start but Rob’s enjoying the ‘brilliant people’ he works with and the training on the industrial cleaning machinery he’s receiving.
“It’s light but fulfilling work that I can do with my health conditions,” he adds. “I catch a bus in at the moment but will cycle when it gets lighter which will be good for me.”
Ingeus will be on hand to support Rob and ensure he goes from strength to strength in 2025. The Work and Health Programme, run by Ingeus across the North West helps people like Rob with health conditions and disabilities navigate any and all obstacles to finding and maintaining satisfying work. It’s certainly living up to its promise for Rob:
“The Work and Health Programme completely changed by outlook, and my employment prospects when I didn’t know how to. I would much rather work than not, I hate sitting around. I’m proud of myself for taking the help offered and making the most of it.”
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