In November, Smart Works Greater Manchester launched a referral pop-up in Manchester Town Hall. The pop-up has a fantastic banner to attract attention and volunteers on standby, encouraging unemployed women to access our service in Stockport, booking in ahead of their job interview.At the launch we were joined by many referral partners from across Greater Manchester, introducing our new referral base and spreading the Smart Works message to new and potential partners.
Joanne Roney OBE, Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, opened the event discussing the concept of Smart Works and the impact it will have on Manchester;
I’m so proud of this, because our Manchester is about all of us, working together, to think about what we can do, to build on the strengths of the people of this city. This is a very simple, genuine gesture that plays right to the heart of our Manchester.
The Chair of Smart Works Greater Manchester, Jan Iceton, spoke about her journey to becoming Chair and the incredible opportunity this referral pop-up presents for Smart Works at the launch:
I chair Smart Works because when I retired early I wanted to find a vocation that I could really identify with and an organisation that I could add value to in the city I’ve called home since coming here as a student. I love Manchester and to think I could help support over 400 women a year get work across our Greater Manchester region was simply a compelling “call to action” for me personally. And as a woman, I know how much better we feel when we look great, how much of a final boost that gives us all when we’re going out there into the workplace.
I’m excited to utilise this Manchester location because Manchester is at the heart of our region and a presence here is essential. We have a great service deliver space in Stockport and 2,000 square feet of space is hard to come by at an affordable cost for a charity such as Smart Works. So we need to up parts of our service to our key referral partners such as the local Job Centre Plus teams, the Growth Company, Ingeus, We Mind the Gap, The Princes Trust and many others.
Smart Works volunteers will be available every Wednesday for the next 2 months in the Manchester City Centre Town Hall Extension, and also at their full-time premises in Stockport.
We would like to thank Manchester City Council, DWP Manchester, The Growth Company, Ford Trust and Ultimate UK for their fantastic support towards making the launch a success. We are also very grateful to The Growth Company who created a fantastic video of the launch, please watch: