The Operational Excellence Award Shortlist

Reach out 2 Work, Community Outreach Team, Jobcentre Plus

Reach Out 2 Work is the Community Outreach project team in Kent District JobcentrePlus. The project was set up in June 2010, as one of 13 across the country, to help improve services in some of the most difficult and deprived communities, as part of the Building Britain’s Recovery: Achieving Full Employment strategy.

The small team of advisers have quickly made a significant contribution to helping customers, who do not normally engage with JCP and who often have complex needs, such as homelessness, substance abuse and health issues, into employment. Their approach is to ask the customer what they think will help remove barriers and get them into work or closer to returning to the labour market. They work with the customer to identify and fill the gap that would otherwise not be met.

They have provided an individual and highly customer-focused service, finding new ways to help people that have produced added value and externally recognised results. Their results are particularly commendable because they have been achieved in an area of high deprivation where an average of 20 per cent of working age residents are claiming benefits.

A team member has just been awarded an MBE for his services to the Black and Ethnic Minority community and this includes his work with RO2W where, through partnerships, he has helped to engage with customers to help them into employment, an area where this has previously been a significant challenge.