On 27 September, Life Links were thrilled to attend the Progress to Work event, hosted by Volunteering Action Leicester and Supporting Leicestershire Families.

This creative and interactive event aimed to help develop people’s confidence, knowledge and experience around employment, volunteering and apprenticeship opportunities. As well as Life Links, several other local organisations attended, including Leicester Employment Hub, The Bridge, Job Centre Plus and many more.

Our team at Life Links delivered a workshop on preparing for interviews which focused on different breathing techniques to help remain calm. Additionally, we spoke to people about the importance of managing your mental health and wellbeing before the interview, for example through building confidence to prepare for employment.

There was also an opportunity for all attendees to share their thoughts on the different benefits of volunteering, which they then stuck on our display board for everyone to see. We wanted to visually  highlight how advantageous volunteering can be for people and it was great to see so many people getting involved. Some of the statements we received included: To help you gain experience before going in to a fulltime job, giving back to the community, developing skills, a chance to see if it is the field you want to work in, being part of a team, gaining confidence and it is fun!

We really enjoyed our day at the Progress to Work event. It was a fantastic opportunity to engage with the public regarding volunteering opportunities and to speak with various other organisations about how they support people who are interested in employment or volunteering.