Our Employment and Skills Service in South Yorkshire has helped two people relaunch their career as carers after losing their jobs.

Gill Outram was “absolutely gutted” when she was made redundant from her role as a Production Operator for a local catering firm.

Even though the 63-year-old from Maltby was adamant about finding new work, after staying in the role for over 20 years it was a daunting prospect re-entering the job market:

“It was a whole new ball game to me. After 20 years I’m old school where you put pen to paper, now it’s all done on computers and that had gotten me beat for starters.”

Meanwhile, for 59-year-old Chris Gethin-Jones from Thurcroft, when he lost his job as a HGV driver after 15 years, he found the entire experience to be more of a wake-up call about what he wanted to do with his life:

“I realised that for two years I hadn’t really enjoyed it anymore. I thought I would miss driving, but the truth was I’d been running myself into the ground with the hours.”

What the pair had in common was a shared interest in moving into the care industry; Chris wanted to apply the skills he had learnt bringing up his two daughters to the workplace, and Gill had a personal attachment due to her mother being diagnosed with dementia.

They both contacted our community employment and skills coach for Rotherham, Louise Jackson, about any free support she could offer with their career move.

She helped the pair to realise their ambitions by building a new CV showcasing transferable skills for a new career path and used her contacts to reach out to potential employers on their behalf.

Gill is now working three nights a week at a care home conveniently within walking distance of her home treating dementia patients on an EMI unit, and enjoying the new challenges:

“It’s physically demanding as well as mentally, but I have the attitude that you should treat the residents the same way your loved ones should be treat and I absolutely love it.”

Chris is on the other hand is now caring for patients suffering from mental health issues such as self-harm, or who are unable to look after themselves, at a care home in Langold, Rotherham.

Chris said: “I am enjoying it, the paperwork is horrendous but you can really achieve something, you can help somebody. It’s good to be able to put something back into society; I’m doing something more than when I was just driving a truck.”

To find out more about the Employment and Skills Service, and the free careers-based support it has to offer to parts of South Yorkshire, head to Facebook or contact us on 01226 270800

This project is funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.