LifeWorks Journey Week 2012 Update

Thank you to our friends who have supported the LifeWorks Journey Week 2012 and shared our features, in particular: ABF the Soldier’s Charity (@Soldierscharity), SSAFA Forces Help (@SSAFAForcesHelp), The Army Families Federation (@the_AFF), St Dunstan’s (@Stdunstansnews), Honour Our Forces (@Honourourforces), Support Our Forces (@SupportUKForces), The British Forces Foundation (@BFFtweets), Shipwrecked Mariners (@ShipwreckedSoc) and I’m Getting Out (@imgettingout) to name but a few.

To mark the end of this feature we would like to finish with RBLI coach Shaun Maloney.  With a 24-year Army career behind him, alongside his success in the training industry, Shaun has the experience and knowledge to guide veterans and service-leavers to meet their employment potential for success on Civvy Street.

For more information on RBLI’s LifeWorks courses;
call the LifeWorks specialist team free on 0800 319 6844
email lifeworks@rbli.co.uk
or view the interactive LifeWorks Brochure

LifeWorks Journey Week 2012

Lifeworks, supported by ABF the soldiers’ charity, is an innovative employment guidance service for the Armed Forces Community, enabling them to build on their existing skills beyond the Armed Forces and achieve sustainable work.

This week (13-17th Feb) is RBLI's LifeWorks Journey Week 2012, each day we have been releasing former LifeWorks delegates’ video journeys to: http://www.rbli.co.uk/rbli/companynews/131/

To round off LifeWorks Journey Week 2012 we are releasing a new interactive LifeWorks Update Brochure which will explain how LifeWorks can help, when it will be provided and how the course has developed.

Open publication - Free publishing - More aremf forces

2011 in numbers...

When reviewing RBLI’s achievements in 2011 my eye was quickly drawn towards a series of numbers:

• We have enabled 350 people to find employment through the Work Programme and have started assisting 4700 individuals who are long term unemployed.

• We have given 5224 members of the Armed Forces community, employment and training information, advice and guidance through the Civvy Street programme.

• LifeWorks, our new vocational assessment service, has worked with 45 wounded, injured and sick ex Service personnel.

•  65 members of the Armed Forces have attended the Army Recovery Courses (ARC) on our site in Aylesford, Kent.

• We have supported 3 young ex-Gurkhas, one of whom has recently started employment in our Signs Department, by providing accommodation in our village.

•  We are proud to have a workforce consisting of 88 employees with disabilities.

• 300,000 pieces K’NEX (construction toy), have been assembled by our specialist team for a range of global displays (see our monster truck).

• 36,000 road and rail signs have been produced by our Signs Department.

• 237,000 new pallets have been built by our Pallet Department. 510,000 other pallets have been inspected, maintained and returned to the system.

• Our village hosts 50 people in our high dependency care home, 38 in our assisted living home and a further 137 in our houses.

• 3 new apprentices have joined our team. We hope that this number will grow in 2012.

•  With a combined age of 153, 3 members of our Senior Management Team, successfully completed the Maidstone Half Marathon and the hope is that the number of RBLI runners will increase in 2012 thereby reducing the average age of participants!

•  54 local children with special needs and their carers attended a Christmas Party as part of our own charitable contribution to our community.

• 176 people ‘Like’ our new Facebook page

•  504 people ‘follow’ @RBLI on Twitter.

•  RBLI videos have been watched 1,047 time on YouTube.

  

A total of 300 RBLI staff made all of the above numbers happen. Of course, the numbers merely give some idea of scale of effort. What is less easy to describe is the dedication, passion and commitment that is required to deliver such high quality services that I see as I visit all of our activities. I do hope that our blog and social medias will, through articles and photographs, better illustrate the work of RBLI and all our staff.

From all at RBLI, I wish you a very happy 2012.

Looking Forward...

Future Horizons:

This week sees the launch of the Future Horizons Programme.   This important initiative, which will run for the next 12 months, will help around 600 early service leavers transition out of the Army and back into civilian life.   The programme will be delivered by a partnership of ex Service charities and private organisations that have pooled their expertise and experience to develop it.

Early service leavers are individuals who, for a range of reasons. complete less than 4 years of their Armed Forces career.  They are therefore not entitled to the full suite of transitional support available.   Often their career with the Armed Forces is cut short unexpectedly and they find themselves experiencing real problems with transition, resulting in increased vulnerability to issues such as crime and alcohol abuse.  The initial pilot project will be delivered from the Army base in Catterick, engaging early service leavers before they leave to help them better adjust during transition.  RBLI is one of a number of organisations partnering up to deliver Future Horizons and was instrumental in developing the assessment tool that will be used to identify support requirements on leaving.  We will also deliver support to those who choose to settle in the South East of England with  RBLI Advisers providing pre employment advice and linking individuals with mainstream programmes such as Work Programme.

"The initial pilot project will be delivered from the Army base in Catterick, engaging early service leavers before they leave to help them better adjust during transition"

The Future Horizons Programme will be funded by the Forces in Mind Trust.   The launch of the Trust was announced this week at the premiere of ‘War Horse’, the new Steven Spielberg film.  The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry has pledged partnership support and will back Trust funded projects with its own grants.

 

RBLI is proud to be a partner in this important initiative which will demonstrate how ex Service charities and private organisations can effectively use their combined expertise to provide an holistic approach to supporting Armed Force personnel.

A Festive Update

In the run up to the festive season, I’m pleased to report that we remain very much on track with delivery of the Strategy we launched earlier this year. There have been a number of successes which demonstrate this. We have continued to support the work of the Army Recovery Capability, having just hosted a further assessment and training course. Our training team has delivered a number of LifeWorks courses and we are proud to report that delegates from these courses are now moving into employment and further vocational training.

Our training team has delivered a number of LifeWorks courses and we are proud to report that delegates from these courses are now moving into employment and further vocational training.

Social Enterprise has recently secured a contract to provide services to the MOD as well as adding a number of new customers for signs, mail house, printing and fulfilment services to its portfolio. The number of customers supported into work through Work Programme continues to grow and we have successfully implemented two Access to Work contracts for the delivery of workplace assessments across the South of England, London and the Home Counties.

Our Property Services team have been invited to tender to provide grounds maintenance work around Kent and a new and exciting project which will provide employment for ex Service, ex offenders that we will deliver in partnership with Blue Sky will now go live in Spring 2012. The Welfare and Healthcare Team continue to support an increasing number of beneficiaries with high quality care, accommodation, advice and guidance.

The latest K’nex ‘Big Build’ project, which has generated much interest and intrigue over the last few weeks will be unveiled early in the New Year when it finally reaches its destination in Houston, Texas. We look forward to providing more detail on this project in January, including information and video footage relating to the build process.

We look forward to providing more detail on this project in January, including information and video footage relating to the build process.

I’d like to wish all our customers, partners and friends a very Happy Christmas and New Year. Thank you for your ongoing support; I look forward to working with all of you to continue our Strategy delivery in 2012.

Christmas Baubles Image by Petr Kratochvil

RBLI video content now online

I am excited to reveal that RBLI now have several videos available to view online: http://www.youtube.com/user/RBLIndustries/videos.

This content will be increasing into the New Year, as we aim to raise the profile of our various charitable and commercial activities. This dynamic platform will be utilised to allow potential clients to preview and meet the people behind our services, such as our training courses for the Armed Forces or our Leatherhead based printing, mailing and distribution projects.

You can vote for the RBLI service you would most like to see video content for here: http://on.fb.me/uQqIGs

Remembrance Day

This is the time of year when we all remember the bravery and sacrifice of our veterans, past and present, who have given so much to this nation.  Many have paid a very high price for their service and far too many have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Every one of us owes these brave men and women a debt of honour and that is why the work that we do everyday is so important.  We give people their lives back, installing a new found sense of pride and direction.  We enable people to start again.

I am proud of the work we do and proud to be part of an organisation like Royal British Legion Industries.  Every one of us should share that sense of pride and redouble our efforts to reach as many of those in need as possible.

“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.”

Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen

Future Horizons

I am absolutely delighted that we are working with COBSEO on the Future Horizons programme.  This is a programme designed to support early service leavers and some of the more vulnerable leaving the armed forces.  This innovative programme means that we will be working in partnership with some of the most experienced providers of employment support in the UK.  We will be pooling our resources, experience and commitment to work to a common goal rather than competing with one another.

This is a really exciting opportunity and one that I hope we can replicate on other important delivery models.  I truly believe that working together we can achieve so much more than we could by “going it alone”.

Co-operation is certainly the way of the future and I will look forward to future collaboration with our partners.

AtW Contracts Commence

We are proud to announce that our Access to Work contracts have commenced today. We are delivering two contracts, across London & the Home Counties and Southern England. This new Government funded contract is designed to support anyone with a disability or health condition and is managed by DWP and Job Centre Plus.

We are a specialist charity which, by working closely with our better known partner, The Royal British Legion, provide specialist vocational support to the armed forces community. As an organisation, we have supported veterans in the workplace for almost 100 years, so using this experience to support the wider public makes perfect sense.

 “As an organisation, we have supported veterans in the workplace for almost 100 years, so using this experience to support the wider public made perfect sense”

We are delighted to be able to offer this excellent Government service and we are all excited about meeting the challenges of providing this service and supporting individuals to sustain employment.

The new contract commences today and those that believe that they may be eligible for support or need further information on the service should look at the Direct Gov website or contact their local Job Centre Plus office.