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PeoplePlus has just launched it's Long Service Award Recognition Scheme. Colleagues who achieve 5,10,15, and 20 years service are rewarded with a Red Letter Day Experience that they can choose themselves. Colleagues who have over 10 years service, also receive an extra paid 'benefit' day where they can enjoy their Red Letter Day Experience. We're pleased that over 100 colleagues will receive this recognition this year. Colleagues also receive an anniversary card every year as a thank you from PeoplePlus
PeoplePlus is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded 3 new accreditations by Best Companies. These join our 1 star accreditation we secured late last year. We are now - One of the UK’s top 25 Education and Training Organisations to work for - One of the top 75 companies to work for in Yorkshire and the Humber - One of the top 100 companies to work for in the Midlands These fantastic results are a true reflection of the progress we have made as an organisation to improve the lives of our colleagues internally as well as the work we do to transform the lives of our customers, clients and learners.
Back at the beginning of 2018 we set ourselves two public ambitions - to make a direct difference to the lives of 1 million people by the end of 2022 - and to set out to become an accredited Best Company to work for. We are delighted to announce that we have now become an Accredited One to Watch Best Company! This reflects the real progress we have made in creating a great place to work. Thank you to all our colleagues who strive so hard to make a positive difference to so many lives everyday and for making this a truly great place to work.
Last week some of the team were at the Sheffield Arena in support of Move More’s hopscotch Guinness World Record attempt. The aim was to have more than 620 people playing hopscotch simultaneously. Although we are still awaiting official confirmation from Guinness World Record, we believe that we broke the record with 679 people participating. Kids and adults of all ages had a fantastic morning exercising, breaking records and having fun! Move More is a Sheffield-wide strategy that is being delivered by partners across the city. They want Sheffield to become the most active City in the UK by 2020. And as a result, see meaningful improvement in the health, wellbeing and quality of life of everybody living in the city. We also now have our very own PeoplePlus hopscotch board in the centre of Sheffield. You can find this between the Peace Gardens and Winter Gardens in the city centre. We hope to see everyone enjoying a game! We are proud to be supporting Move More in Sheffield and will be involved in more initiatives in the near future.
This week we are recognising Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK - the aim of this week is to get more people talking. We know that everyone has mental health just as everyone has physical health, and we can all experience periods of ill mental health. This can take many different forms, one of these is having a negative body image - this is the theme of MHAW this year. Having a negative body image is often associated with young people, but did you know that 1 in 5 adults felt shame, with just over one third feeling down or low because of their body image last year? At PeoplePlus we take mental health seriously. That's why we have dedicated Mental Health First Responders throughout the business. These MHFRs have been trained in spotting the signs of ill mental health, supporting those experiencing these issues, listening, guiding and directing individuals to further support. This course is something we are very proud of, and we are committed to having 100 fully trained MHFR’s by the end of 2019.
Last week PeoplePlus celebrated making an impact to over 250,000 lives by hosting an event in at the Institute of Directors for our partners, clients, customers and some of our colleagues. We were privileged to have the Minister of State for Education Anne Milton who oversees skills and apprenticeships, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Amber Rudd who oversees all employment programmes and Access to Work and the Minister for Civil Society Mims Davies in attendance. They were all impressed with our mission to transform lives through education and employment and spoke positively about the impact PeoplePlus are having on people’s lives. Amber Rudd tweeted afterwards: “PeoplePlus has now helped 250,000 people into a job, further training or an apprenticeship. I’ve seen for myself their important work in Hastings which has helped so many enjoy a better life. Great to join them tonight.”
This week we are celebrating that fact that we have been delivering the Fair Start Scotland service in Glasgow and Highlands & Islands for a year now. The service supports people back into work and to date we have supported over 400 people, with an overall transition rate of 70%. John Dolan, our Director for Scotland comments “When somebody starts in a job, that’s just the beginning of their journey, it is not just about progressing people into work; it is about keeping them in work. We have to prepare people so they have longevity in the role. So we provide ongoing support to help participants with some of the practical aspects of life, such as financial budgeting. Our thoughts for the future are very much to continue to deliver a quality service to support unemployed people in Glasgow and Highlands & Islands back into work."
1st April saw a large number of new contracts going live across PeoplePlus. We are now proud to say that we are the largest independent provider of prison education, having increased our delivery to 22 prisons. Four new Direct Payments contracts went live meaning we now support over 20 local authorities with this vital service which helps people to remain independent. Skills Support for the Unemployed is now being delivered across 10 regions, making us responsible for nearly half of the delivery in England. And finally our Gloucestershire Carers' Hub opened its doors, enabling us to help carers across the region to access a one stop shop for advice and support. We are excited and proud to be constantly developing and growing our skills and training expertise with some of hardest to help groups in society and achieving our mission of making a difference to the lives of 1 million people by 2022. Thank you to our colleagues, partners and clients who have made this possible for us.
We are delighted to have been recognised in the Regional Best Companies Index (RBCI) which generates the Times 100 Best Companies Survey, as one of the top 50 companies to work for in Scotland. John Dolan Director for PeoplePlus Scotland comments; "I am absolutely delighted that PeoplePlus has been listed in the top 50 companies to work for in Scotland. Our passion lies with helping people develop their skills so that they can find jobs and develop their careers. There is no more rewarding work than helping someone to fulfil their potential. And this, combined with working alongside committed and skilled colleagues makes for an energetic and highly motivated working environment, as reflected in our new ‘Best Companies’ ranking" See the full lists here http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vMAxS
Today is National Time to Talk Day, which encourages everyone to talk about mental health. In October PeoplePlus signed the Time to Change Pledge as part of our commitment to ending mental health discrimination. By creating an open culture, we can understand more about the causes of mental illness, the impacts on peoples' lives and how we can tackle discrimination by supporting our colleagues, clients and service users. So let's have that conversation and actively promote positive mental health in the workplace.
