Shadow minister praises Salvation Army Employment Plus

A Salvation Army scheme that supports people into work has been praised by Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Jonathan Ashworth MP, during a visit to the church and charity in East London.  

The Labour MP for Leicester South visited the East Ham Project at Stratford Salvation Army last week to speak to people who have been helped by its Employment Plus service. He also met local church leaders Captains Lee and Jonathan Raggett and Nick Read who leads employment services for The Salvation Army across the UK. 

Employment Plus offers tailored support to individuals including help with CV writing, accessing training, confidence building, applying for jobs and interview skills to help people not only find but stay in work.  

Lee, who leads Stratford Salvation Army and the East Ham Project which provides a number of services to the community including a nappy bank, community wardrobe, baby wardrobe and community food store, said: “It was fantastic to welcome Jon Ashworth MP to our Employment Plus service and show him what a difference it is making to people in our community. 

“We have found that people are facing a number of barriers when it comes to employment such as lack of affordable childcare, difficulties returning to work after a period of ill health or redundancy. Our aim is to help increase people’s confidence and to build on the skills they have to help them find a job that suits them and that they are more likely to stay in.  

“We have had some real success stories and it was fantastic to be able to share those with Mr Ashworth.”  

Mr Ashworth said: “This is an excellent example of how people can get into and thrive at work if only they are given the right support. We need more programmes like this to get Britain working again.”  

Mr Ashworth spent some time with Jordan Williams, 31, who has been using the Employment Plus service at East Ham for around a month. 

Jordan said: “I told him about the services I was receiving and how useful they have been. I explained the nuances of my situation and how Angela, my employment development coordinator, and I, work towards my goals on a weekly basis. I also told him how useful it was to use the community store.” 

The Salvation Army’s Nick Read said: ”It was a pleasure to show Jon the difference our project is making to the lives of people in this community.” 

For more information on Stratford Salvation Army visit https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/stratford and for The Salvation Army’s Employment Plus Service here https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/employment-plus