Gingerbread offers smart solutions for one parent families

Recent research commissioned by CFNI reveals that, of all groups in NI, one parent families will be hardest hit by forthcoming cuts. Marks and Start is an employability programme specially designed for lone parents who want to get back to work, it offers:

•      Work preparation in week one
•      Combined with a two-week work experience with Marks & Spencer

The one week work preparation training course is delivered by lone parent organisation Gingerbread NI. It is held in Marks & Spencer stores in Belfast and Derry. All training is delivered within school hours and is tailored specifically for parents.

Each participant receives induction training with Marks & Spencer and a two-week work experience placement within their nearest participating Marks & Spencer ore. Each participant is given an interview, and while there are no guarantees of jobs, since it began in 2008, 42% of participants have secured employment after finishing Marks & Start.

South Belfast Lone Parent Enjoying Every Minute of New Job with M&S

When Belfast mum of two Margaret McCormick found herself out of work at the start of the recession, it was a real shock to her. 

“I’d worked my entire life and didn’t realise that it would be so difficult to find a job. I worked in a care home when my girls were young. I’d work all night and then come home, get them off to school and go to bed ‘til they got home again,” the Ormeau Road woman said. 

All the shift work was taking its toll on her and she decided it was time for something new. But after working for a short time in retail, she found herself unemployed for a year and three months. “It had always been easy enough to get a job before, but the recession changed that. It was a really tough year for me. I jumped at the chance to go on the Marks and Start programme,” she said.