Friday 29th April 2022, Uxbridge, Hillingdon. To watch the show back in full, click here!
Integration Manager, Elaine King:
“Back in September 2021, I approached my Director with the concept of reaching out into the Hillingdon community to foster relations by conveying the fact that we are a knowledgeable and experienced, community led and trustworthy brand with national reach. This was necessary because although Seetec Pluss was a strong national brand, it was not known in the Hillingdon area.
“I understood that since we were a sub-prime on the Restart Scheme within our locale, we needed a ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ (USP) to offer potential stakeholders. Nationally, we were the prime holders of many contracts, but we had to start working in a way to better understand the community to find out what our USP could mean and do for them. But first, I had to find out what the community needed.
“So, in reaching out and developing contacts within the community, I quickly realised how diverse the community was, and the pride they felt about who they were as businesspeople, trainers, voluntary organisations, and community leaders. The one thing that I saw happening was that everyone was operating on their own and not communicating with eachother, but that they were all fighting the same battles. In every conversation I had, the concept of wanting to work together was being conveyed by everyone, including the DWP’s JCP, but no one had taken the decision to start this process.
“This is where I found Seetec Pluss’s USP! We could function as a conduit that brings everyone in the community together, periodically focusing on different elements or themes throughout the year that addresses issues and challenges that affected the community. This would allow us to further build our brand as a trustworthy and caring community-minded organisation.
“This eventually came alive on Friday 29th April 2022 with the ‘Feeling- Good – A Community Affair’ event, and we achieved this awesome event with the aid of Seetec Pluss’ outreach program which engaged and collaborated with Employers, Training Providers, Specialist Providers, Voluntary organisations, Department for Work & Pensions and the local Hillingdon MP, Cllr John McDonnell.
“In another room, we organised a networking session, where invited businesses, special guest speakers, DWP and staff, all mingled and explored each other’s businesses and ideas and hence the formation of future partnerships and business development. As the networking session progressed, we began to see the working silos being replaced by the will to collaborate in business.
“A lot of behind-the-scenes work went into developing the overall concept of the event; the networking session and the customised marketing approach and literature targeted the rich diverse cultures that Hillingdon has to offer. Seetec Pluss listened to what the community shared as their areas of concern, and we understood our community base. So, developing an event that highlighted Hillingdon’s diverse and rich culture became a labour of love.
“Through Chaos TV, which is an online tv production and one of our core business partners, we were able to capture and showcase a portion of what Hillingdon community has to offer, and the benefits of working collaboratively to uplift and support a community.”
1st Interview on Chaos TV: Chaos presenters, Pudge & Maya, with Elaine King.
The name of the event came about from the collaborative effort of Marketing with their Feel-Good events and Elaine King playing on the concept of a ‘Love affair’ with the community. CHAOS TV aired a 25 minute promotion of the event, interviewing Elaine. This clip was aired on April 20th, 2022, on Seetec Pluss Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as via CHAOS TV. Click here to watch this interview.
Stakeholders also used their social media platforms, to promote the upcoming event. This promotional clip took off and gathered speed on its own and friends and family of the staff of Seetec Pluss spread the word as far as in India, Barbados, USA, and the Philippines. Now that the staff understood better what the event was all about, they started to mobilise themselves in the most professional way, with marketing working closely to prepare them for the big day.
Henry Rosewall – Chaos TV – Senior producer
Elaine King –Seetec Pluss – Integration Manager
“What a wonderful experience to be on the sofa with none other than Henry Rosewall, who is the senior producer for CHAOS TV. His wit and humorous personality set the stage for a magnificent 3 hours of knowledge sharing for the listening public. His easy-going personality makes it pleasing for any co-presenter to work alongside.”- Elaine.
John McDonnell MP
Kareen Burnett (Seetec Pluss Employability Trainer)
Munnaza Bari (Restart participant)
Elaine was joined on the sofa by John McDonnell, who is the local MP for Hillingdon, Kareen Burnet, who is Seetec Pluss’ Employability Trainer, and Munnaza Bari, who is a participant on the DWP Restart Scheme.
John, who has lived in Hillingdon for more than 50 years, spoke about the many changes over this time. He was able to recount his own life/work experience, from seeing Hillingdon’s metal industry sector, to now relying more on growth with tech jobs, hospitality, and retail sectors as well as the growing job opportunities at Heathrow airport. With the implementation of the Cross rail, he also spoke about the ability of quicker connections into the heart of London.
He spoke about the growing rich and diverse cultures now found in Hillingdon and highlighted the vibrant sense of community and expanded cuisines. Being a MP for 25 years, he also focused on discussing the housing challenges amongst other concerns within Hillingdon. He referred to Hillingdon as ‘a jewel within London.’
Perrine Coker – (Uxbridge College – Team Leader), Paul Tumwine (Pathways LDN – CEO), Charley Meston (Strive Training -Employment Liaison supervisor)
We have sought out and formed strategic alliances and partnerships to assist with customised development for each participant. We recognised that not all participants learn and develop at the same rate, and therefore, it is imperative to be able to seek the assistance with other specialist providers that would help them on their journey into sustained work. We have chosen to work closely with these providers because they have additional expertise and support to further develop our participants.
Liz Sewell Director of Grow, Belina Consulting
Chanel Vital – Employer Engagement Officer
Liz runs the GROW programme and works with lone parents who are a little further away from work. If you have a special needs child, or you do not have English as a first language, or perhaps if you have never worked and you need a little bit more support and confidence building, the GROW programme is designed to encourage it’s participants to grow at their own pace. Even if you are a main carer for the children and you need more support in pulling down those barriers into work, Liz and her team are happy to assist you.
Chanel started off as a participant on the GROW programme and excelled to the point where she is now working for them as one of their Employer Engagement Officers.
Claire Gardener – Managing Director of Dynamic Training
Ann McLoughlin – Head of Business Development & Projects
Dynamic Training is the core health care provider for apprenticeships, working nationally with up to 70 NHS Trusts. Anne mentioned that they also offer care and business in apprenticeships, and they are passionate about ensuring apprenticeships are accessible to everyone. The accessible apprenticeship is available to anyone with special educational needs and or disabilities and centred around additional flexibility. This is beneficial to anyone who works part time or who may need additional support with functional English and maths.
This really is just a snippet of the guests and conversations, featured on our Feel Good broadcast. To watch the show in full, click here.
We’d like to thank all of our guests for taking part and talking so openly and honestly, the Seetec Pluss team in Hillingdon for welcoming us so warmly into their office for this event, and to CHAOS TV for hosting this event with us. #NoOneLeftBehind
The Restart Scheme is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions.
