Building Better Opportunities

Joanne’s Story

Joanne had no paid work history at all, she had previously volunteered and engaged in work experience to develop some skills, however she had no confidence at all to apply for employment. Joanne initially had a negative attitude towards applying for vacancies, believing that she was not employable, and employers would judge her on her lack of work history.  

Joanne joined the BBO project in Oct 2020 requesting support to increase her confidence to enable her to find employment in the future. She hoped to find employment as a Cleaner but needed a COSHH qualification and with support from BBO successfully completed the COSHH course on 18/5/2021. Joanne then went onto find employment as a Cleaner beginning work on 26/5/2021.

Joanne said “BBO really increased my confidence by helping me get a qualification that ended up with me getting a job the next week”  

Danielle’s Story

For over twelve years, Danielle had a secure job working in marketing however, as a result of the pandemic, she was made redundant. Despite the stress and panic that this caused, Danielle kept her head high and saw it as an opportunity to retrain herself and pursue a new career as a Teaching Assistant.

Danielle said, “I was a little worried at the age of 30 with a family of my own, and no experience, that I could change my career and so had put it off for quite some time. Though, once I knew my future wasn’t looking too good in my last job, I decided to bite the bullet and contact Hull Business Training Centre to see what was available to me that would fit around my busy family life.”

Danielle showed a lot of initiative in pursuing her new career and found a school that would support her whilst she completed her Level 3 Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship. Just a few months after being made redundant, Danielle started her apprenticeship at the Boulevard Academy and has shown us all that hard work, perseverance, and determination really does pay off!

Alan’s story

When Alan first joined the Building Better Opportunities programme, he had very few qualifications and limited work experience. As such, he was determined to build upon his skill set in order to increase his chances of securing employment.

In the past, Alan had worked as a Turnstile Assistant at his local football ground and, with a passion for the sport, he hoped that BBO would help him to become a coach or referee in the industry.  Funding was secured so Alan could obtain a DBS check and undertake the necessary FA Accredited Coaching Training course.

Alan now feels confident that he possesses the right skills and qualifications to follow his dream and hopes to coach football to primary school children very soon.

Nichola’s Story

As a single mum with three children, Nichola had been out of work for more than 12 years so, joined the BBO programme with very low confidence, a limited skillset, but a strong desire to want to improve herself.

Nichola began by developing her abilities in Maths and English before advancing onto more specific areas of study. Nichola worked hard to improve her working levels in these areas, and despite the circumstances she found herself in following the national lockdown, she quickly adapted to the new way of learning online and successfully managed her workload alongside home-schooling her children.

Nichola was recently presented with Ongo’s Learner of the Year Award 2020 for her positive attitude and determination.

Nichola really appreciates all the support she has received and is proud of her achievements so far. Her plan is to carry on developing her skillset before possibly going into the customer service or retail sector.