Member Article

Unemployed pair end knockout course with new jobs

A former boxing champion has just finished a week of sparring with a group of unemployed people from Nottingham, teaching them transferrable skills to help them in their quest to find jobs.

The innovative scheme, called TKO (Training, Knowledge and Opportunities), was supported by former cruiserweight world champion Glenn McCrory. Glenn now commentates for Sky Sports, but took time out to help deliver the course with Work Programme provider Ingeus. Designed by Ingeus, TKO uses sport as a means of helping unemployed people develop their leadership, teamwork, communication skills and self-confidence.

During the week, participants spent time being coached in boxing disciplines by Glenn at The Liberty Gym. They also visited Nottingham City Homes, which manages the council’s rented and leasehold homes, deli and outside caterers Brown Betty’s, and the Mercure Hotel in Nottingham City Centre. The aim was to see how the employability skills they were learning could be applied in the workplace, and course participants spent time discovering the diverse opportunities that exist amongst a range of employers.

The week was organised by Ingeus’s Sports and Social Inclusion Manager Richie Ellison. “Through sport, we are able to demonstrate the importance of key skills, such as discipline and routine, that are as relevant to employment as they are to boxing,” he said. “It’s been an excellent week and we are confident that many of those who have taken part in the course will move into work very soon.”

Richie’s confidence was reinforced at the end of the week when Leanne Davis, 37, and Josh Bradley, 18, both heard they had been successful in getting jobs – Leanne as a customer assistant with a major retailer in the city, and Josh as a waiter and assistant with the Mercure Hotel.

Leanne last worked 16 years ago. Between then and now, she became a fulltime mum and then applied endlessly for vacancies in an effort to get back on her feet financially. “The TKO course really fired up my enthusiasm and gave me back the confidence that had ebbed away,” she said. “Ingeus has supported me for some time and helped me develop the skills I needed to get a job. Working alongside Glenn McCrory and others this week has given me everything I need to impress at my job interview – and it has worked!”

Josh Bradley left college a year ago and completed a temporary contract in sales. However, even though he was desperate to earn a living, he was unable to find a permanent job. “The TKO course has given me real motivation. It has been brilliant to work alongside Glenn – this week he has been a real inspiration for me. I was a keen boxer before my mum passed away, and this is the first time I have been back in the gym. I’ve also just heard I have a new flat to live in, too, so my job success really is the end to a great week!”

“I know what it’s like not to have a job,” added Glenn. “I was unemployed before I won the World Title. It’s been a joy to see the change in people, I’m delighted to have helped, and I hope that everyone has taken something away that they can apply to their everyday lives.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ingeus .