Working around childcare – Stephanie’s story

When Stephanie was referred to the Restart Scheme, she told us that her main barrier to working was being able to find suitable and affordable childcare. Although she had plenty of work experience, Stephanie also felt that being out of work for a few years due to having children had set her back; Stephanie wanted our support with knowing how to apply for jobs, what certain roles entailed and how to manage a job around her family.

Stephanie worked with her Employment Adviser Laura, to look at childcare options – including the different types of childcare provider and financial support available.

“Reed in Partnership were massive in helping me find the right provider”, said Stephanie, who is now working for EE after meeting them at one of our “Sector Routeway” sessions, which we hold to help participants decide which sector is best for them.

“For the first time since having kids, I’m financially providing for them.”

Stephanie also let Laura know that she has ME (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome), so we made sure she had extra flexibility around her appointments so that she didn’t miss out on any support. Stephanie attended the Restart Scheme Skills Academy – which offers a wider range of free, in-house courses and workshops – to help her feel more confident and identify her transferable skills.

This helped Stephanie to decide that she would like to pursue admin roles, and together she and Laura created a tailored, high standard CV – which she was able to use to apply for the role at EE after she’d met them at our Sector Routeway session.

After lots of preparation with Laura, Stephanie aced her interview and was offered the job the next day!

To make sure that Stephanie could start working without the additional stress of childcare costs before her first wage, the Restart Scheme funded the first month of childcare.

“Reed in Partnership has given me so much more freedom”, said Stephanie. “I feel so much more confident.”