‘They can open doors’: the community-based project helping people into work in Teesside

Stockton’s JobsPlus is a pilot scheme with caseworkers who connect individual people with potential jobs, providing direct financial help where necessary

“W

e’ve had quite a few people on the estate get jobs,” says Bryan Stokell, who found work as a full-time security guard thanks to Stockton-on-Tees’s JobsPlus project. The 47-year-old father has since become a “community champion”, encouraging his neighbours to enrol.

“It got to the point where even my little boy was coming home and saying, ‘my friend’s mam and dad are looking for work’,” he grins. “They [the project] have a lot of contacts, they can open doors into places.”

Stokell has had health problems, and was struggling to find a suitable role before his caseworker, Khialah Wilson, helped him with his CV and job applications.