EIP has announced its support for Working Chance, a charity helping women with criminal convictions get back into employment.
Ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, the firm is excited to be involved with a project specifically supporting women.
Working Chance is the UK’s only charity supporting women with criminal convictions to find their way back into employment. Beneficiaries, most of whom have served custodial sentences, are supported in developing their employability through workshops which raise the participants’ self-belief and help them find a job.
To assist in supporting the charity, EIP will be hosting an employability workshop in its London office on 30 April. The workshop will allow staff to assist in providing the women with vital training and support around overcoming barriers to employment, including addressing issues of low self-esteem by building their professional and practical skills. Training will feature mock job interviews, facilitated by trained staff from Working Chance.
Sharon St Louis, EIP’s Paralegal Manager who lead the initiative, said: “I am pleased that EIP can use its expertise and resources to support this charity. It is import that these women can be assisted back into work and be given the skills to secure a role together with gaining confidence to know that their past does not have to define who they are today.”
Helen Sweet, Head of Employability at Working Chance, said: “Women with convictions face social exclusion and multiple barriers to employment. Many have a complex history of childhood abuse, mental ill-health, poverty, homelessness and domestic violence. Our workshops are an essential part of their journey to self-belief and employment. For women with convictions, a job means so much more than an income – it means a future where she can flourish and contribute to society.”