The Forward Leeds Individual Placement and Support (IPS) team welcomed employers and people they have supported to find employment to a special event at Elland Road on 6 June.
The event was to celebrate the many successes of the people the IPS team work with and to thank the organisations who offered employment opportunities to people receiving help from Forward Leeds.
Lead Employment Specialist at Forward Leeds, Caroline Hartley-Senior, said: “It was a really inspiring and motivating evening. It was great to bring together so many of the amazing employers that we work with together with people we’ve supported and a range of staff from across Forward Leeds.
“The fact everyone stayed together for so long at the end chatting, sharing ideas and networking highlights how much people were stimulated by the evening”.
Josh, who is being supported by the IPS Team said: “It was so nice to talk to so many wonderful people who have had help from the IPS Team at Forward Leeds. So many think really highly of the IPS team and how they help them out. So glad I became part of the family on my journey to full-time employment which hopefully is just around the corner.”
Michelle Sowe of Leeds College of Building, who attended the event, said: “It was an inspiring few hours. It was amazing to hear the speakers’ journeys, I even shed a few tears, and met some wonderful people too. I was honoured to attend this event.”
Employers and people who have been supported by the IPS team to find work spoke at the event. One extra special guest speaker was David Best, Professor of Addiction Recovery at Leeds Trinity University.
Individual Placement and Support is an internationally recognised programme for helping people to find and keep jobs. The IPS team at Forward Leeds help to find meaningful jobs for people we support that suit their skills, abilities and experience. This has been proven to be beneficial for people’s recovery from issues with alcohol and drugs.
(With thanks to Chris Sylvester of Getting Clean for permission to use his photo above)