You may have previously read the success story of GEM Julie. Initially Julie trained as a Graphic Designer but has also worked as a chef, until a back injury as well as mental health issues changed things. Suffering with anxiety and depression, she got involved with Artshape where she has since spent countless hours on her beautiful artworks.

When we met with Julie earlier this year, she told us she'd like to donate one of her pieces to a local children's charity.  Julie said: "I've always liked helping people. I'd like to think of children and parents who are going through difficult times or who are unwell, having the opportunity to escape for a moment and get lost with the fairies in my artwork."

Julie chose to donate three pieces to the James Hopkins Trust, who provide nursing respite care to life limited and life threatened young children in Gloucestershire, either at their centre or in the family home.

Community, Events and Volunteer Manager Ria told us: "We were delighted to welcome local artist Julie Green to our specialist centre, Kites Corner in Barnwood this week.  We were thrilled to receive Julie's generous donation of three stunning, original and unique pieces of her artwork.   We will be incredibly proud to have Julies work displayed for the children to enjoy.  Thank you to Gloucestershire Gateway Trust and their GEM project for making this this possible."

We were delighted to join Julie and her Navigator Developer Donna from Artshape to deliver the artwork to Kite's Corner and meet some of the children. 

Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK, running from 10 - 17 June 2019. It also helps people who don't think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much-needed support.

There are 6.5 million people in the UK who are carers. They will be looking after a family member or friend who has a disability, mental or physical illness or who needs extra help as they grow older.  This years campaign focuses on getting people connected, and for many carers getting back into work or finding a role that fits around their caring responsibilities may seem impossible, but with the right help from somewhere like the GEM Project, it can be done and can offer carers a great way to meet people and do something for themselves.

One of our GEM Navigator Developers, Ian Mackay, works at partner organisation Forwards, and was assigned a new referal from a carer last July.  "I had a referal from a lady who had been a full time carer for her mother, who had eventually passed away. After a period of mourning, she felt the time was right to start looking at returning to paid work and sought support from the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Project. 

She had lost all confidence in her abilities and was apprehensive at  the whole scenario of even where to start looking into the employment market. I helped her to update her CV, and we worked on interview techniques to bolster her confidence. I was able to support her on a one to one basis which is a particular strength of the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) project. After a number of job applications and interviews, the participant was successful in securing paid work as a child support worker in a local school. She was very happy and grateful for the support the GEM project via her Navigator Developer provided and firmly believes she would not have secured her employment without that help and support."

If you know someone in a caring role or who has recently come out of a caring role and needs support to get back into the workplace, the GEM Project is here to help.  

For more information about Carers Week you can visit the main campaign website for additional support in other areas.

A new exhibition of words and images has opened at Stroud and Stonehouse train station, celebrating the railway and the Stroudwater canal. 

The work was a collaboration between one of the GEM Project's partners Creative Sustainability, in partnership with Great Western Railway and the Association of Community Partnerships, along with Park Junior School, Stroud College and people from the local community which included two GEM participants. 

The exhibition was designed to build confidence, create opportunities and develop skills, by providing local people the chance to get creative, have a voice and showcase their work in public. 

The images for the exhibitions were created by Stroud based photographers Ruth Davey and James Kriszyk, photography students from Stroud College and local photographers, including the work of two participants enrolled on the GEM Project. The words and poems that supported the exhibition were written from pupils at a local school. 

Anna Reeves, Navigator Developer at Creative Sustainability comments, 

"Our 2 GEM participants were delighted to go along to the opening of the exhibition and see their work on public display as posters on the station platforms. They have both gone on to do further photography courses and it is likely that they will both be exhibiting work at the Stroud Festival of Nature. I'm hoping that a third GEM participant will also be joining them and exhibiting work."

Creative Sustainability would like to thank Great Western Railway and ACoRP for this opportunity as well as sponsoring the project. 

Q:  Many people see the new year as a fresh start, do you see lots more people coming into The Nelson Trust? 

A:  The start of the year is often a really busy time for the staff at the Nelson Trust as people are either making decisions to start their year afresh and change their outlooks, set some aims and make some changes, or others find it really difficult to manage at this time of year due to depression.

Q: Are people also more keen to talk about getting back into work? 

A:  A lot of clients and participants are keen to start the year with fresh objectives to get training, gain qualifications or get into work. Nelson Trust staff often refer their clients to the GEM project and the majority of my participants were clients at some point. With a bit of experience, we tend to keep the clients with their key workers so that I can focus on education, employment and training with them to support them with developing their future.

Q: What happens the first time you meet a new participant?

A: The first time I meet a new participant, I go through a series of questions, I will either meet them with their key worker, or if they’ve been referred through the GEM Project, I carry out an initial assessment for both the Nelson Trust and GEM. I tell them all about what the Nelson Trust and the GEM programme offers and see if they think it’s appropriate for them. You’d be surprised how much people open up, even on that first meeting and by the end of the first meeting, we have usually set up a future meeting in a couple of weeks time.

Q:  How do you motivate your participants, and keep them motivated when there are bumps in the road?

A:  My clients frequently suffer from anxiety and depression and have days and weeks or even months where they really struggle to stay motivated. They frequently don’t even contact me or come to the meetings we have set when they’ve had a big set back. At these times, I try to stay motivated and positive myself, I try to help them see the positive side of their experience, I try to motivate them to get feedback or look objectively with them at what went wrong where ever possible.

I encourage my clients to keep gratitude lists and use positive affirmations. Sometimes I direct them to books such as The Secret so that they can learn more about being positive, and tell them about motivational speakers or life coaches they can find online. I encourage my participants to attend courses to help them gain confidence and life skills, make new friends and have positive experiences. I’m lucky that we have a lot of positive things going on at the women’s centre for our women that I can direct them to including Emotional Health & Wellbeing, lunch club, art therapy, art courses, craft group and and more.

Q:  What’s your personal motivation or mantra?

A:  I do yoga as often as possible to help me to stay grounded and calm, I keep a gratitude list myself and always try to stay positive. I often use positive affirmations, such as:

‘I am ready to attract abundance into my life’.

Q: What would you say to anyone considering getting on to the GEM Project?

A:  The GEM Project is more than just an educational or training programme, it is about offering personal, support which is tailored for the individual. There are also lots of opportunities that arise through the GEM Project that participants can benefit from, which they might not be offered if they had never been involved with the GEM programme.

Some fantastic local employers have recently received the GEM Exemplar Employer Award, but do you know what it takes to be awarded one, and why it's so critically important to the employment market?

GEM Project Opportunity Hunters Sue Guilding and Tony Solomon explain...

What is a GEM Exemplar Employer?

"In a nutshell, a GEM Exemplar Employer is an organisation which believes that every person should have the opportunity to engage in meaningful work.  An Exemplar Employer will “go the extra mile” by providing opportunities for those who are finding it difficult to enter, or re-enter, the world of work. 

Opportunities offered by our Exemplar Employers include; mock interviews, information events, work experience, site visits, work trials, NVQ training, volunteering and jobs.

Many employers are recognising and realising the positive benefits of having a diverse and inclusive workforce. Rae Hunt, Manager of Hubble Bubble Cafe said: 

“By making a simple adjustment to our training process – including using clear checklists and straightforward wording with Phoebe (who has high functioning Autism and was struggling to find employment despite her qualifications) – we have gained a very valuable member of the team. Phoebe is never late, she works consistently hard with exacting standards and is meticulous in her presentation.  We also gave Phoebe a work trial at the start and could instantly see she would be great for the job.  She performed really well in the interview but the work trial really showed us what she was capable of.”

How are we doing?

To date almost 40 organisations have been awarded “Exemplar Employer” status. The types of organisations which have achieved this accolade include small independents such as Spider Creative and Hubble Bubble Café, to large nationals like the Environment Agency and British Computer Society. We have also awarded certificates to a number of GEM partners including CCP, The Churn Project, and GL11, to name a few.

Our Vision for the future...

We view our Exemplar Employers as a very special and exclusive club – a distinct group of organisations who recognise the value of providing constructive opportunities, which enhance employability and life skills, as well as creating a positive impact on their community. They definitely view it as so much more than a tick in their CSR box!

We plan to hold Exemplar Employer events in the final year of the project, to support these organisations and to offer them the opportunity to meet other employers with a similar ethos and outlook.

Our aim is to have over 100 Exemplar Employers in Gloucestershire by the end of the three year project.

This will help to create sustainability beyond the life of the GEM Project. It will provide a legacy in Gloucestershire of a network of like minded organisations, who are able to champion Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace."

Find out more about how your organisation could become an Exemplar Employer and read about how other organisations have achieved this award.