On Friday 14 August we held a highly successful women’s self-development workshop at Wheatsheaf House.

Eight women attended the workshop which was run for mothers and women who play a primary role in the lives of young people on the youth inclusion programme in the Southampton area.

The focus of the day was to address issues of self-confidence, to raise self-awareness in communication styles, and to introduce effective methods of dealing with their teenagers’ challenging behavior - for example learning to be assertive and say no! 

A life-coach and part-time teacher delivered the session, tailoring it to the specific needs of the group. These had been pre-assessed through individually engaging with each of the women prior to the workshop. To make the day as fun and relaxed as possible activities involved interactive flipchart exercises, cartoon demonstrations and small group work, along with sharing a healthy buffet lunch!

Although unconfident and hesitant to start with by the end of the day all the women reported back with very positive feedback.

Jan said: ‘I never believed [my son] would benefit from this [youth inclusion] programme. He’s like a different boy since he’s started with you. You have far exceeded all my expectations. That is the sole reason I would be interested in more workshops like this to help me deal with my son better.’

Another mother mentioned: ‘The stuff on passive and aggressive behaviour was really good. I can see now how my behaviour is affecting [my daughter] and why she can get angry and can kick off at me.’

The women found the workshop so useful and valuable that they asked unprompted to attend future sessions to help them develop further on a personal level and in their parenting skills.   

In response we will continue to organize workshops like this - watch this space for those to be held every Monday in September!

The youth inclusion project is supported by the Youth Sector Development Fund Youth Inclusion Programme (YIPS).

Wheatsheaf’s new youth inclusion programme has now held three workshops to help raise the aspirations of 14 NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) young people.

The idea behind the workshops was to inspire the young people to think as creatively as possibly about their future, with a key aim of conveying how education, commitment and reliability will help these young people to reach and sustain a future in their employment goals.

Some of the young people had a clear idea of how they wanted to go forward in life, others were less sure and to help the young people identify with how goals can be achieved the life of Gordon Ramsey was used as a role model.

This well known and above all successful chef was specifically chosen as someone with a background the young people could relate to, with his  difficult up- bringing, his dreams of playing professional football being taken away from him, and  his self- inflicted career mistakes, but who has gone on to achieve great professional success.

When asked what it took for Gordon to get himself where he is today, the young people identified the underlying traits of hard work, grit, determination, and an improved attitude  towards work, as well as being prepared to get things wrong sometimes.

One young person said, “Yeah, it’s true he messed up by getting himself sacked but he had to swallow his pride and start from the bottom again. Otherwise he would just be bumming around not doing anything with his life still”. 

The workshops are part of the activities held during the project’s four week induction period when the young people participate in a combination of positive fun activities and developmental workshops.

The challenge now for these young people is to put these values into practice in areas they are interested in and Wheatsheaf will be there, continuing to support them as they make their decisions.

The youth inclusion project is supported by the Youth Sector Development Fund Youth Inclusion Programme (YIPS).

 ‘I’m here today at the Wheatsheaf charity in Havant …’ said  BBC South Today reporter, Tom Hepworth, at the start of his interview with Havant Employment and Training Advisor, Becky Benfield, and Wheatsheaf client Carole Sanger.

The BBC were visiting Wheatsheaf following the release of the new unemployment figures, which show that the total number of people out of work nationally has increased in the three months to June by 220,000 to 2.44 million and that claims for unemployment benefit have grown by 24,900 from June to 1.58 million.

With Nomis official labour market statistics putting the number of those claiming Job Seekers Allowance in Havant at 2,658, Becky said, ‘It is nice that the BBC is taking an interest in the unemployment situation in Havant as normally it’s the rest of the south that gets the attention and Havant is overlooked.’

Client Carole Sanger described how Wheatsheaf has helped her search for jobs in the last two months and how today she had come in for an update to her CV. Having been a carer for her mother, Carole is looking for work following her mother’s death and is considering a career in care-work or returning to her former occupation of sewing machinist.

Also interviewed were clients Richard Mordle - who is looking for a job in construction - and Jason Whalley, now registered with Wheatsheaf’s Reach Out programme, which is delivered with partner agency, Vosper Thorneycroft Careers Enterprise and funded by the Department of Work and Pensions/European Social Fund.

Having worked in construction Jason is now thinking about retraining in security. Wheatsheaf Trust has strong links with Havant College which runs an SIA (Security Industry Authority) course and has helped ten clients retrain in this industry in recent years.

Part of what was filmed was shown on South Today’s lunchtime edition, with the BBC returning to film Havant EAC’s busy drop-in session during the afternoon, and an item will also appear on South Today at 6.30.

Tom Hepworth said that they were very pleased to have been able to speak to Wheatsheaf clients directly and explained that they had come to Wheatsheaf Trust in Havant, ‘because unemployment figures for Havant have doubled within the last 12 months and we know that the Wheatsheaf centre in Havant has had to take on an extra member of staff to deal with the increase in clients.’  

He added of Becky, ‘It can be really daunting being on television, but Becky was really good, very informative and came over very well. She was an absolute star.’

And captured on our camera are BBC South Today reporter, Tom Hepworth, and cameraman, Doug Manning.

A year ago Alan Tyson was directed to Wheatsheaf Trust’s Net-a-Job in Millbrook by JobCentre  Plus.

Having worked for six years in a variety of jobs ranging from shop management to working as a DJ, Alan had then spent three years signed off from work suffering from depression.

But through his own perseverance and hard work, and with support from Wheatsheaf, Alan is now an Event Organiser and in the process of setting up his own company, Tyson Promotions - and what’s more has bookings spread over the next six months.

Alan’s company organises events ranging from weddings to business functions, from discos to stag and hen parties. Alan says, ‘It’s a dream I have always wanted to do. And I’m doing it!’

Alan discovered his talent for event organising when he helped his mother plan and organise her wedding three years ago, and after providing First Aid cover at a horse show in September 2008 word of mouth recommendations have meant that Alan, a trained First Aider, has worked all but three weekends since January. He is currently concentrating on developing the company through First Aid Provision at events.

To help set up the company Alan received a grant from Enham, the charity that supports people with disabilities, and has received advice from InBiz, an organisation that supports people moving into self-employment.

‘But I couldn’t have done it without Wheatsheaf,’ Alan says. ‘They gave me practical advice on how to set up the company and on writing letters - and without the facilities to email and phone I wouldn’t be where I am now. I was on Benefits and so didn’t have a mobile or a computer at home.’

With the contracts for First Aid provision at football tournaments, judo competitions, fetes and horse shows continuing to roll in, once the company is set up Alan will be looking to take on 8-9 employees.

Alan’s advice for people looking to go into self-employment is, ‘If someone puts their mind to it, anyone can do it.’

Alan’s website, www.tysonpromotions.co.uk will shortly be available and otherwise to contact Alan for bookings phone 07501 850302 or email on alan.tyson99@yahoo.co.uk.