A Final Farewell to the LIFT OFF Project and to Norfolk County Council – By Ella Meecham, LIFT OFF Project Delivery Officer.
With the LIFT OFF Project coming to an end and the doom and gloom in the media, I thought it would be a nice idea to recap on some of the key moments I really enjoyed during the project.
Since the project began in spring last year, I have met and worked with so many new and interesting people. It has been a challenging project as It was something unlike anything I had delivered previously. I spent a lot of time working closely with the participants and they have taught me so much over the past months. Many of the participants that were referred to the project had faced barriers to gaining employment because of lack of confidence, a disability, mental health issues or lack of experience. Working with these people has totally changed and opened up my perceptions on the challenges both employers and prospective employees face. Many of the participants thought they had not been successful in gaining employment because of how they were perceived on paper by their CV’s or by their lack of previous experience. It can be a catch-22 for many, as without a job, they cannot receive the training they require. This is how volunteering programmes like this one can help.
In total, 36 work trial days were carried out and some of the tasks carried out by the participants included access auditing a range of sites around Norfolk. As well as making this information available to the public through access booklets, the exercise helped encourage the participants to come out, meet new people, learn new skills and be out in some of the most idyllic locations around Norfolk, including historic sites and nature reserves. It was about taking that big step to come along and to develop some of their team working and communications skills with others in the same position as themselves. Upon completion of the work trial, the participants received certificates at our end of project celebration in February 2020. As well as this, all participants were offered the opportunity to take part in First Aid training as well as the chance to take part in workshops, such as tree planting and interview skills. The aim of the work trials and training workshops was to boost their confidence, to change their mindset into a more positive one and to feel a part of something whilst contributing to help their community.
