Your Choice Barnet customers had the opportunity to build crucial steps into work recently with a little help from partners Barnet Mencap, Barnet & Southgate College and Volunteering Matters.

After completing a six week ‘Return to Work’ course with Barnet & Southgate College, ten of our customers from CommunitySpace and Barnet Independent Living Service (BILS) received a visit from both partner organisations.

Jon Scott-Laws, Coordinator at Barnet Mencap who run a service called Bright Futures for people with learning disabilities and autism, and Rachel Boyett from Volunteering Matters, were there to offer customers career advice and employment opportunities, and the outcomes are impressive.

As a result of the session, four customers are now working with Barnet Mencap and three are working with Volunteering Matters. The remaining three customers will take part in an access to volunteering course, starting in June.

The outcomes from the Return to Work course have been so positive that the process is due to start again with a further ten customers in the near future.

This story is a great example of how Your Choice Barnet is working in partnership with the three organisations as well as Barnet Homes’ Work & Training Coordinator, Jacqui Jones, to offer brighter futures for their customers.