Compass Support, the charitable subsidiary of The Pioneer Group, has again been successful in securing funding to support the residents of Castle Vale and Falcon Lodge.

£127,000 will be provided by The Henry Smith Charity to support the new “Get Healthy Get Working” initiative, which will help 144 people over the next three years. This innovative programme aims to help people who have experienced ill health and other personal challenges get back into work.

The eight-week support programme will encourage people to fulfil their potential and includes a wide range of activities aimed at building confidence, promoting healthier lifestyles and supporting people to into work. Individuals will also receive support from a life coach who will share approaches on how to overcome barriers and setbacks while staying motivated and committed. The life coach will help people to design their own programme to achieve positive change.

Those taking part will have access to a wide range exciting activities through the programme and support tailored to their personal circumstances. These include:

• Activities to help build confidence and overcome loneliness and isolation
• Healthy lifestyle support such as exercise and healthy eating on a budget
• Support to help people get into work such as job club, one to one advice and guidance, work experience & voluntary work opportunities, as well as support with applying for jobs.

Participants in the programme will also be able to access specialist support and advice such as counselling, family support and debt advice.

Working in collaboration with local GPs, partnering practices can refer patients to the Get Healthy Get Working programme as a non-medical option. Whilst already established with a number of local GPs, Compass Support are working to connect with more branches of health centres, job centres and other support services to offer residents of Castle Vale and Falcon Lodge access to the initiative.

Tracey Quirk, Head of Operations at Compass Support, said:

We’re thrilled to have secured the funding to continue providing this vital service to the community. People can often be faced with a number of personal challenges in today’s society and not always know who to turn to. By providing an open, safe and welcome point of contact, we look forward to working with residents of Castle Vale and Falcon Lodge to promote a healthy and happy lifestyle.

We welcome enquiries from anyone who would like to find out more about Get Healthy Get Working. Simply visit our Compass Support website to find our more.