Ganiu helped back into work thanks to support from Longhurst Group’s Employment and Skills service

When Ganiu Ishola’s wife died nearly a decade ago, his life turned upside down.

Forced to give up work to care for his young children, he didn’t know where to turn.

Now, nine years on and with his children at college, support from our Employment and Skills service has helped him get back on his own two feet and into work.

Ganiu, now aged 60 and living in Lincoln, has a long and proud track record of working. But despite this experience, he was finding it hard to get a break and find work.

He says the intervention of Rob Friday, our Employment and Training Advisor, in July was the turning point and he’s now delighted to be working full-time for Lincolnshire Co-op.

“It was hard having to take care of the children and dealing with losing a loved one,” he said.

“It was very stressful. But once the kids had grown up and could take care of themselves and go to college, I knew I wanted to get back into work.

“I was submitting a lot of applications, but I wasn’t getting any response from some of them. With others, I was told the job had gone.”

Ganiu was referred to the Employment and Skills service by our Income Team. Rob helped Ganiu update his CV to focus on his experience rather than his career gap.

He said: “Rob’s great at helping to find jobs that suit your skills. He also knows how to search for jobs that you might not know about.

“He helped me update my CV and I’m so grateful that I met him and that he could help me.”

Ganiu has now started his new job, and describes it as “awesome”.

“I feel good that I have a job to go to Monday to Friday. It’s nice,” he said.

“The job is awesome and everybody is friendly. I love it, it’s brilliant.

“I’d definitely encourage other customers to reach out to Rob and the team if they’re in a similar situation to me, or just want help finding work. It can change your life.”

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