Employment support for people over 50

26th May 2023

The Centre for Ageing Better and FareShare Midlands are working together to develop a new support service for people aged between 50 and 64 who have recently been made redundant.

The project, called Elevate, will offer help to people who at risk of redundancy, or who have been made redundant in the last three months. It aims to enable older workers to bounce back from the shock of redundancy, get back into employment quickly, and prevent them falling out of the workforce for good.

The course is led by an experienced coach and includes help to write a CV, develop interview technique, identify strengths and build self confidence. It also offers access to the latest job vacancies, and a chance to talk to people in a similar situation.

The initial phase of the scheme will focus on the manufacturing and automotive sectors, where high numbers of roles have disappeared, partly due to Brexit and Covid-19, a particular concern in our region. In the West Midlands, the employment rate of 50-64 year olds has dropped by three per cent since the start of the pandemic. Statistically, workers over 50 also find it harder to find a new job after redundancy, and are more likely to fall into long term unemployment.

A confidence boosting training programme

Lucy Kenny, redundancy and retraining project manager at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “We have been able to confidently create a programme that puts the needs and experiences of those going through redundancy at the heart of the course. We hope that the service we develop through the project will be scalable across other regions and other industries.”

Elevate was jointly commissioned with the WMCA and is funded by Barclays LifeSkills. Kirstie Mackey, managing director at Barclays Citizenship, UK & Europe, said: We are proud to continue to support Elevate and The Centre for Ageing Better. With a wide range of online, free-to-access resources, our content will help anyone set themselves up for success, allowing them to secure a new job with confidence.”

FareShare is keen to hear from people who want to join the scheme, as well as employers who are considering making redundancies. Get in touch by emailing elevate@faresharemidlands.org.uk, or call 0121 328 6640.