Blackburn with Darwen has one of the highest levels of economic inactivity of the local authorities in the Lancashire area, 30.3% of people aged 16 to 64, which equates to around 27,500 economically inactive people in this age range. The level of economic inactivity in Blackburn with Darwen is consistent, having remained at or around this level for at least the last ten years.
Unemployment can have a huge impact on self-esteem and sometimes make you feel you have nothing to contribute to society. While discrimination and a lack of skills, experience and opportunity may be holding you back, we have found low confidence is the major barrier in our service users entering or re-entering the workplace, and this is what we aim to address first.
We run various courses, opportunities and programmes aimed to upskill members of the community to develop functional and employability skills to achieve work training skills. A range of activities are explored, addressing a variety of practical and emotional support to improve confidence and self-esteem. These include:
- Guidance around health expectations in the workplace, such as pain management, fatigue issues and comfortable working environments
- Practical support with CVs, job applications and interviews
- Help with business plans, marketing strategies and publicity for clients who would like to become self-employed
- Digital marketing and social media workshops
- Flexible individual support and personal mentoring to help you access volunteering, work experience or employment opportunities
- Access to adult education courses in subjects like literacy and maths
- Benefits advice and advocacy for people balancing employment with a caring role
We work in conjunction with our specialist local services, ensuring we refer our clients to the appropriate agencies while fully supporting them throughout their experiences.
For information on the support we can offer email us at – info@positivesmiles.co.uk