Committee work inspiration group launches first success story
The Work Inspiration Group is a working group made up of Solihull Chamber Executive Committee members. The group was put together by former Solihull Chamber President, Tony Elvin, and led by Amanda Holden (Wilkes Partnership).
During their 2022 term, the working group was tasked with curating inspirational stories from across the borough.
The working group has launched their first inspirational story- Chet Parmar and The Colebridge Trust.
Based in North Solihull, The Colebridge Trust has been supporting individuals from marginalised communities to successfully enter the workforce for the past 21 years. Their wider work centres around inclusion, health and wellbeing and ensuring community assets are available for local people.
They are passionate about enabling local people to best access the breadth of employment opportunities available within the community, regardless of background. The team often work with individuals whose challenges range from underlying health and wellbeing issues or other physical or mental health issues, predominantly low-level issues, for which a bit of support is needed alongside some strategies to help them to cope with those challenges.
The Trust has had particularly huge success in gaining employment for individuals within the construction and manufacturing industries and over the past few years they have regularly placed a few hundred people into work each year, enabled individuals to raise their attainment levels.
Led by CEO Chet Parmar (pictured), the team also work closely with several special schools and adults who have not previously been afforded many of the right opportunities. Through work experience, mentoring and raising their confidence levels the Trust has supported them to achieve academic qualifications, helping them move them through a pathway of employment.
Chet said: “One of our greatest successes was Mary. She came to us with relatively low levels of attainment, had previously worked in a supermarket and wanted to do something different with her life. We were able to afford an opportunity at the industrial unit. She did that for a couple of years and then asked if she could move across to the employment skills team and she really grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
“For employers who really want to get involved with diversity and inclusion in the right way, it's about thinking about opening up opportunities for people that you might not normally think of as your ideal candidate. You've got to be willing to make a difference and some of those employees end up being the best employees you'll ever employ back into the workforce. ”
View Chet 's success story here.
You can find out more about the Trust by visiting visiting their website and if you are interested in being a Trustee and would like to offer your expertise to the board, please contact chetp@colebridge.org.