#Tracy Jane Newsome spink

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Tolerance Project extra Another piece in the puzzle Jigsaw Enterprise Training the first 10 years

Part 1 Cinderella you shall go to the Ball

Introduction

In this special 2 part blog I celebrate my friendship with Gemma Blagbourgh who I have known for some 36 years this month marks the 10th birthday of her business Jigsaw Enterprise training its a story of determination hard work and the loss of a few tears along the way but Gemma will tell its been well worth it those of you who are regular readers of this blog will know some of the back story behind Jigsaw.

As its been mentioned quite a few times in this blog Gemma recently let me publish the first 2 Chapters of her book How to build up your business piece by piece which told you how Jigsaw came about and how you could build up you own business by Self Employment

This Blog is not about that its more of a personal story of how I and another close friend of Gemma’s Claire Wallice become involved with Jigsaw

Claire’s Words come from a blog that me and Claire wrote about a fundraising ball that we put together for Jigsaw in 2014 that blog never saw print until now Thank you Claire for letting me use it and the use of the ball photos from her Facebook page

I can’t remember how I became involved in jigsaw but I think it must have been sometime in 2012 it might have been sooner I was asked by Gemma like Claire to come on the Jigsaw Enterprise training board to help her run it with some other friends being a board member meant we would go to meetings every other Saturday to discuss future projects help out with events and paperwork It could be hard work but most of the time it was a lot of fun

Gemma always seemed to be full of beans and have lots of ideas another thing I liked about her was that she would always have a different way to approach a problem if we hit a brick wall and I liked that I would call it Keilder Challenge* thinking I also met some new freinds the two Tracie's who I liked a lot and Ruth Sharpe who I took to Immediately we shared the same sense of humour too the cherry on the cake was that she was fellow Doctor who fan I would work allot with these three people over the next few years .

How did Claire get involved with Jigsaw Enterprise Training? I was lucky enough to see the impact jigsaw has on its participants as I was fortunate enough to be part of the very first skill builder course** as moral support for Gemma because it was all new and she was very nervous.

Well This was the start of something that would change even me

I spoke to a room full of strange people and helped to lead some of the sessions, Gemma wanted to give up after the first day but, it was me who said “no chance”

As a result of me being what Gemma and I call “Jigsawed” when times were tough I couldn’t see jigsaw go, when I knew people really needed us.

And so…. The conversation came between me and Gemma, we need to raise funds and company profile what can we do ?

So in 2014 Claire Wallice had the bright idea why don’t we have a ball, a white tie and tiara ball What was Gemma’s reaction ? Gemma – “If you are willing to take the project on, then “lets do it”

And so with Gemma’s go ahead Claire was raring to go so buzzing with ideas I start to plan our first ever fundraiser, with the longest to do list and internet searches for everything from venues to music and beyond after lots of time in the office, on the phone in conversation with many people, my plan was beginning to take shape.

I needed to somehow find a team of people to help one of which needed to design our posters and tickets, and so I had a lightbulb moment, and asked the very talented self taught graphic designer Dawn Roberts, who also did an awesome job of turning my vision into reality, helping to decorate the venue and be our photographer for the evening.

She was amazing, and did an awesome job.

Also along with Dawn and her many talents Tracy Jane was a big help in turning my vision in to a reality and I could have done any of this without my right hand man Ben Brown, between the three of them they were my rock.

So I put myself forward to host the whole thing silly me, I had done presentations for various projects before I thought this would be easy but even I found this stressful.

The programme kept changing I seem to remember that I had to change what I needed to say about 3 times and this wasn’t enough as things kept changing on the night itself it was a good job I had the whole thing written down on cue cards I even took a pen and pencil with me on the night in case I needed to change anything.  We did have to change things round when Claire decided at the last minute she didn’t want to do the speech she had written also one of our big auction prizes was withdrawn at the last second.

Talking about speeches Claire decided it would be a good idea to do one praising Gemma and the work she does with Jigsaw which I agreed I quickly wrote this as I knew exactly what I was going to say on the night of the ball, reading the speech I found myself with a lump in my throat and close to tears one of Gemma’s friends Lisa Morley took some mobile phone footage of my efforts and Gemma later said that when she feels down about Jigsaw she look at this short 57 second clip of my speech and it gives her the extra energy she needs to get going again which is nice of her to say. And here it is in all its glory https://www.facebook.com/100000097600947/videos/867016569978255/

What did I think about the ball and its end results I am pretty proud of what we did although I only played a small part in it.

Out of Respect for Gemma I am not going to put on the usual details on how to donate to the Tolerance Project because its not about me if you want to give a donation to Jigsaw Enterprise Training that would be great to do that please get in touch with Gemma she will tell you what to do

Pictures

1) The Jigsaw Enterprise Training Team Gemma me Claire Wallice Tracy Newsome Spink

2) Dawn Roberts our talented graphic designer and photographer

3) Gemma who this event was for

4) Ruth helping me with my Speech as the host with the most

5) Me doing my Brian May Impression when my hosting job was done

6) A Jigsaw Ball ticket

7) A 10th Birthday cake Happy Birthday Jigsaw

8) The Jigsaw Enterprise training logo

Video

Me doing my speech with thanks to Lisa Morley

Notes

*kielder challenge was an event that me and Gemma and others did when we were at Newsome high school where a group of disabled and non disabled people would make up a team to take on Crystal Maze type challanges the final would take place yearly at kielder Water in Northumberland for the record Newsome high never got to the final when I was there the best we could manage was three semi finals so near yet so far

**Skillbuilder is a foundation level course, that builds on peoples unique strengths, whilst providing them with the Skills to be work or volunteer ready, increase their independence, whilst playing a meaningful part in their local community. It is run for two days a week, and lasts for 12 weeks

 Coming soon  Part 2 of this blog Another piece in the Jigsaw puzzle The Tolerance connection

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Jigsaw Pieces: Gizza job! I can do that! Part 3

Introduction

In the final part  Gizza job I can do that Ben works for a call Centre called Electroville gets a few temporary jobs suffers a few disappointments while Gemma sets up a company called Jigsaw 

Part III: Ben’s Story – Electroville to the Present Day

 Electroville – frustration, pain, tears, and tips on how to write a good job application.

My PAT placement finished on 3 September 2003 and I was once again looking for full-time work. I saw an advert for an Administrative Officer at the Electronic Village Hall in Dewsbury, and although I did not get an interview,let alone the job, something funny happened. I got a phone call from Mrs Roberts, one of my old typing teachers at junior school. She now worked at the Village Hall and felt that I did not have enough experience for the post but she did say that the Village Hall was offering NVQs in Information Technology. So I went to Dewsbury for a short interview and a test, and it was felt that with my experience I should go for the NVQ Level III. In addition, to the qualification, there would be the added incentive of being paid £75 a month to help set up a Call Centre called Electroville, where we would offer clients teaching sessions on how to use computer packages. I liked going to Dewsbury; it was fun, athough the NVQ work was really hard to do, but I passed and that was the main thing. The Call Centre was good and my line manager Vihing Lee told me later that I was an inspiration to her because I always came to work with a smile!

While I was gaining my NVQ qualification, I applied for a job at Dewsbury Town Hall as an Information Officer. It all went very well. Initially, I was second choice for the post, but when the first choice dropped out, I was asked to provide my references. Unfortunately, both my preferred people had left Kirklees Council, so I came up with another two names, who I thought would help. Unfortunately, instead of getting the phone call to tell me when I would be starting work, I got a call that still haunts me to this day, to say that there was a problem with one of my references and that I would not be getting the job. I was heartbroken. The problem was that I had asked someone from the SSIP's team to provide a reference, but they refused, because they said I had only been with that team as a result of the fire access problem.

 This would be the first in a very long line of disappointments from the PAT course when applying for jobs. I learned about doing your research on the company, highlighting the job specification with the points you need to remember in the interview, taking notes in with you, and the sorts of questions they would ask.

For example, in every job interview there is at least one question on customer care; one on your past experience; one on what you can bring to the job; one on time management / setting priorities; and one on equal opportunities. If you prepare for these questions and answer them well, there is a good chance you will get the job.

If you have to do a typing test and you have a disability like me, then do not be afraid of asking for extra time and ask them what the test will involve.

There is usually a place on the the job application form where you can request special arrangements before hand always check as well when you get the interview that the arrangements you want are in place as I found out to my cost when doing an interview for NHS in Dewsbury my request for extra time had not been passed on to the interview panel so instead of getting the job I deserved I came second and lost out.

I also learned from writing so many job applications that a lot of the same questions come up time and again that I saved most, if not all, of my job applications to a memory stick should similar questions come up. I was so good at writing job applications that one year I got nine job interviews in a row, but I still did not get a job, which is a bit soul destroying.

They always say after the interview that you should ring up for feedback. I wrote the points down on a spreadsheet to remember for next time but this was not always the case. Many times, the conversation would go something like this: you gave a very good interview; we liked you a lot but you should have said/done xyz. In other words, the goalposts kept changing all the time or I would get rubbish feedback like your answers were too short or not long enough.

 Sometimes I would go to interviews and I would get the distinct impression that before I had even opened my mouth, the panel had already made their minds up and given the job to some else and that I was only there to make their equal opportunities figures look good. Is it any wonder that I gave up ringing for feedback because I felt it would not be worth it any more.

While I was still applying for jobs, money was getting low and I had to apply for Job Seeker's Allowance. As anybody who has been to the job centre knows, they are soulless and depressing places. Every two weeks up to a 13 week period, I had to go and say what I had been doing in order to get a job to get my money. I was on JSA for 3 years and I hated the pressure I was under all the time to find a job.

 Most of the people I saw during that 3-year period were very nice to me, but there was one lady who was not. Every fortnight I would see her and she would make mine and my Mum's life dreadful. Anyway the 13-week period was up and I was told by she who must be obeyed that in order to get my money, I had to go on this training course. Unfortunately, the course was in a building that was not wheelchair friendly. Well, you can imagine the scene when we told the woman that I could not attend the course because we could not enter the building. The woman threatened to take the money off me.

I saw another disability adviser, but she was not much help as she could only tell me what the job centre could do when I got a job, not how to get one! I spoke to Remploy representive about working for them. I filled out all the paper work, waited for 6 months and then was told by the job centre that this representative had left under dubious circumstances! When I did manage to go on one of the job centre's training courses with CMS Vocational Training, I did not find it very useful, as it taught me things I already knew, like writing CVs and job applications. What I really wanted to know about was changing employers' attitudes to people with disabilities, so that I could get into work. A future blog is planned that will look into lack of understanding by employers when employing disabled people.

It was ironic then that in my next job, I would be working for the job centre. Just two months after the CMS vocational course, I was invited to interview to work for the job centre as an Admin Assistant on a 6 month post. I did not get the job, but I had impressed them enough to be offered another job that would last three months. To say that I was over the moon was an understatement. The job was interesting and I enjoyed it. I did a good job and my line mangers there liked what I was doing; they even said that they would have liked to have kept me on, but due to rules regarding temporary workers they could not.

While I was working for the job centre, I was lucky enough to get another job. Right after my post with the job centre had finished, this was not a happy posting to say the least. I was working for Kirklees Adult Services as an Admin Assistant. I was told I was there to do data input work, but on my first day there I was told that this data input work had not materialised and that I would have to do typing work instead, which put me at a disadvantage. The staff were nice but I didn’t get on with my line manager. This was the first time anybody had complained about my work before and sadly, I was just glad to get out in the end. I did learn a lot about myself and what I really wanted in the world.

In conclusion, I have had mostly positive experiences in the work environment. I do a good job if people give me a chance, but my chances have been few and far between. I haven’t had a job now since 2008 I haven’t given up trying to find a job but to be honest my confidence has been shot it just not my top priority I got fed up of working really hard for no reward and got fed up of listening to the the same excuses you we liked you but and also having to move for the shifting goalposts also I find that the opportunities for me to get work are no longer there any-more the Tory government we have in power now seems to have it in for disabled people they say they have better schemes for disabled people like me to find work hence the shutting down of of the disability Job agencies Worklink in 2013 and Remploy in 2014

Also they seem to think that disabled People are not also lying about the disabilities they have and that we are money grabbers as well you only have to look at our twitter feed to see stories of disabled people who are not suitable for a job being forced to look for work as well as disabled people losing their independence because their PIP claims have been wrongly accessed The EU even says the how the British Government treats its disabled people is wrong and that it should be looked into

Part III: Gemma’s Story – How Jigsaw can help you

Jigsaw Enterprise Training now runs training to prepare people for work, and increase their confidence when filling in application forms, preparing for interviews and writing a CV. This is delivered in an interactive format to take account of different learning styles and abilities; it uses visual stimulus and discussion; and learners work in small groups so the task is easier to understand and is not overwhelming.

Tracy Jane Newsome-Spink had this to say about working with Gemma and Jigsaw’s work

‘It certainly helped me as when I met Gemma, I would not fill in any forms or applications. She showed me why we need to fill them in and in a different way, so I could manage them, as I have a learning difficulty. By having someone to help me by reading it and talking about what I am going to put and check my spelling, I can fill it in as quickly and as best I can.’

Thank You

There are many, many people who have been a massive help to me throughout my working life so far, but I would like to thank the following people for sticking with me, helping me out and being good friends, when I needed them.

James Smith, for leading the way at Shelley High.

John Laycock, for being honest.

Craig Wood, for coming up with and supporting Tolerance.

Jeremy Walker, for all his help with developing Tolerance.

Fran Wood, for being a really good friend through thick and thin.

Barry Coapwaite, Fiona Weir and Nina Stansfield, for supporting me.

Jazz Johal, for being my unofficial PA, whilst doing her own work as well! Jazz also helped me to persuade the powers that be that I needed a PA to help me out.

Linda Pape and Claire Read, for all the help you give me.

Vihing Lee, for being a pleasure to work with.

The Cast and Crew of the Tolerance film for getting me through that filming schedule and helping me and Gemma not get a nervous breakdown!!

Jigsaw Enterprise Training staff team, Tracey Jones, Tracy Jane Newsome-Spink and Ruth Sharpe

 And finally, my brother, Matthew Brown. And to my mum Susan Brown for posting the applications and getting me to the job interviews

Pictures

My Line Manager at Eclectroville Vihing Lee

Tracy Jane Newsome Spink and Gemma doing a Jigsaw Enterprise training session in Bradley Woods

Next week the start of a 3 part Tolerance Project extra .

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