Since the beginning of April 2017 Forward Leeds has supported 466 of its clients into employment, and 125 into training or education.
Joy Archer, Education, Training and Employment Coordinator for Forward Leeds said: “These figures show how proactive Forward Leeds and our Recovery Coordinators are in the way they support, motivate and signpost our clients.”
Joy continued: ”Getting clients moving towards work or training is an important and integral part of their treatment and support plans.
”Effective treatment for substance misuse means long term goals for sustained recovery. The aim is to improve someone’s self-worth so they can take their place as a productive member of society.
“A lot of this work is about overcoming perceived barriers into the workplace and working on confidence and motivation.
“We work alongside other services such as the Bridge/STEP programme, the DWP Social Justice Team, the Cardigan Centre, Job Centre Plus, Norton Webb, Northern College and Reed in Partnerships to help our clients to find a pathway that suits them.
“Even if someone isn’t well enough to take on a full time job we can work with them to find part time jobs or training opportunities or study programmes just to discover the joy of learning for its own sake”.
Lee Wilson, head of Forward Leeds and DISC Assistant Director said: “Supporting people toward the next stages of their life like this, demonstrates the effectiveness of what we do in Forward Leeds. We’re not just treating substance misuse issues, we’re helping people make real changes to their life”.