Callum’s story

Callum had left school without any qualifications; he struggles with dyslexia and didn’t get much additional support for this whilst at school so felt de-motivated by the system. He felt he didn’t have many prospects when leaving school, he had applied for some warehousing roles but was not successful. Feeling disengaged and like no-one wanted to give him a chance it was easy for him to fall into the wrong crowd. Callum got into debt and needed a way out of it, feeling he had no other options he turned to crime. He committed a robbery on a commercial property and was sentenced to a 36-month custodial sentence. Whilst in prison Callum realised this was not the life he wanted to live, and he wanted to better himself, so he signed up to a number of programmes including Achieve.

Callum had told his case worker at Achieve that he was interested in work in construction so they thought he would be a good candidate for opportunities available through the Construction Skills Fund (CSF) which Procure Plus (PP) has been awarded. PP has a long history of working with employers to create opportunities for those with barriers to entering employment and the work via CSF enhances this offer to the local community and help more candidates like Callum. Re:vision met with Callum to discuss his options and help him get ready for employment. They provided mentoring support for him, conducting mock interviews and looking at different construction opportunities explaining what each one would entail. Although Callum said he wanted to do something ‘hands on’ he had never worked in construction before so Re:vision wanted to ensure he went forward for the right role for him to ensure he sustained employment and would stay motivated to stay on the right track.

They looked at apprenticeship possibilities but decided this was not the right route for Callum currently.
Re:vision were also realistic with Callum that an apprenticeship position would entail going back to college and whilst they would help support him through this Callum wasn’t keen due to the issues he’d had at school and would prefer to focus on physical work whilst earning money.

One of the contractors Re:vision has engaged with is Spire CS. Spire CS are a leading provider of construction site logistics based in the Northwest with projects ranging from the Midlands to the North of the UK. Their support services comprise of directly employed labour supply, delivery/traffic management, demolition, waste management and site security. So far, they have recruited over 70 of Re:vision’s candidates into full-time permanent positions. Due to this partnership working Re:vision thought Spire CS would be perfect for Callum as they would be able to provide him secure regular work with additional over-time which Callum was after to increase his pay packet whilst in a supportive environment. Re:vision arranged for Callum to go and meet the site manager and he was offered the position straight away! Callum has been on site for 3 months now and is enjoying the stability and routine that the role is giving him. He has been able to work additional hours when he wants which has massively improved his financial situation keeping him focused on staying out of trouble and on track for a positive future.