A County Durham-based independent charity has helped 60% more disadvantaged, disabled, veterans and their families with social welfare and health inequalities to move into work in the last 12 months than in the previous year.
With seven new contracts agreed and two more contracts renewed this year, Finchale continues to go from strength to strength and the Executive team at the charity have big ambitions and expectations for 2017. New contracts have been secured with Working Links, Remploy, Ixion, Shaw Trust, ABF The Soldiers Charity, The Royal British Legion and more.
Finchale, which is based in Pity Me in County Durham, was founded in 1943 as a rehabilitation and resettlement centre for service personnel returning from active service, and it has retained strong links with local communities and the Armed Forces ever since.
The independent registered charity has supported the disadvantaged, disabled, veterans and those with complex health inequalities for 73 years by offering specialist support for people with multiple and complex barriers to employment. It works with individuals and families from the Scottish Borders in the north to the East Riding of Yorkshire in the south, and across from Teesside to Cumbria. Finchale works with a wide range of employers and partners of all sizes from across the public, private and third sectors.
Throughout 2016, Finchale has helped 404 people, including 289 veterans and dependants, and 252 people with social welfare, health issues and skills which affect their ability to work, through its friendly support services. In the last 12 months, Finchale has worked with 82 partners and referral organisations to help support people into sustained employment and volunteering.
Courses are being run at Finchale throughout the year and the charity has referred more than 100 people onto these courses upskilling them with relevant qualifications to help them to find sustained work. As a direct result of the charity’s work, a total of 147 local people, to date have found sustained employment with its support.
Mel Pears, CEO of Finchale, said: “As we approach the end of the year, it’s great to reflect on what has been achieved in 2016. We’re delighted to have increased the number of people we have helped and supported throughout this time but we want to be able to do more. The door is always open at Finchale – making a difference to people’s lives.
“People transform their lives by joining us at Finchale and taking advantage of all that is on offer. We listen and help to release the talents of individuals ensuring that the support is available to help them to fulfil their true potential.
“We’ve been working very hard throughout the year to enable more people to overcome the physical and mental health barriers which prevent them being able to work, and a large part of that is down to securing more contracts and working with more partners. We’ve also appointed Roger Guy as our first Business Development Manager to grow this side of our work and intend to recruit two more Caseworkers in April 2017.
“We’ve agreed on three new contracts and have already started work on another four new contracts, and we’re delighted to have renewed two of our existing contracts, too.
“As we approach the New Year, we are looking forward to working with existing partners and organisations. We aim to support even more people in 2017 in their bid to be job wise, job ready and find the sustained employment of choice in 2017.”
To find out more about Finchale and its work please visit www.finchale.org.To find out how your organisation could work in partnership with the charity, please call Roger Guy on 0191 386 2634 or email roger.guy@finchale.org