St Giles is helping people remain in and secure livable employment, through effective and holistic employment support.
Through our food Pantry Network, community support sessions and local outreach, St Giles has transformed thousands of people’s lives through entrance to employment and growth within employment.
What Is Employment Support?
Employment support helps individuals prepare for, find, and maintain work. It’s designed to improve employability and support people into meaningful and sustainable jobs. This support is typically offered by charities, job centers, training providers, or employment-focused programmes.
Common elements of employment support include:
- CV development: Helping individuals create or update a CV that effectively showcases their skills, experience, and strengths.
- Job application support: Guidance on how to search for jobs, complete application forms, and tailor personal statements to meet employer needs.
- Interview preparation: Building confidence through mock interviews, communication coaching, and presentation tips.
- Skills development: Opportunities to improve essential skills such as teamwork, time management, and communication.
- Training and qualifications: Access to courses or accreditation that help improve job prospects in specific industries or sectors.
Employment support aims to break down barriers to the job market and help individuals take steps toward stable, rewarding work.
Why Would Someone Need Employment Support?
Someone might need employment support to help them prepare for and find work, especially if they face challenges like gaps in employment, lack of confidence, limited skills, or uncertainty about career options.
Employment support provides practical help with CVs, job applications, interviews, and training, making it easier to take positive steps toward stable and meaningful work.
How is St Giles Support Different?
Employment support at St Giles is about more than just finding a job — it’s about building a pathway to long-term stability and fulfilling work. Our services are designed to help people who face complex barriers to employment, including those with experience of the criminal justice system, homelessness, exploitation, or long-term unemployment.
St Giles offers a unique, person-centred approach that goes beyond employment advice.
- Holistic support: We recognise that employment is only one part of the picture. Our support tackles the broader challenges that keep people trapped in poverty, such as housing issues, mental health, or lack of digital access.
- Removing barriers: From accessing ID and childcare to managing criminal records, we help people overcome the real-life obstacles that prevent them from moving forward.
- 1-to-1 bespoke support: Our staff have lived experience and build trusted relationships that allow them to offer tailored, relevant support, not tick-box solutions.
- Non-traditional approach: We understand that formal routes don’t work for everyone. That’s why we help people find the right opportunities that match their circumstances and strengths, even if they fall outside the conventional recruitment system.
- Better work, not just any job: We’re focused on sustainable careers, not short-term fixes. That means supporting people into roles that are stable, fairly paid, and offer a future.
- Building confidence, not just CVs: Many people we support have been told they’ll never succeed. We work to rebuild self-belief so they feel ready and able, to thrive in work and beyond.
How Does Employment Affect Poverty?
Employment can be a vital route out of poverty, but only when it’s stable, fairly paid, and secure. For many people we work with, accessing work is a powerful step toward independence, improved well-being, and a brighter future. But work alone doesn’t always guarantee financial security.
Insecure hours, low wages, lack of progression, and the rising cost of living mean that some people remain trapped in poverty, even while working. At St Giles, we support people to not only find work but to find better work. Our aim is to help people build careers that offer dignity, security, and real opportunity.
Paul was eager to find stable employment but needed support to overcome the barriers in his path.
What is In Work Poverty and Better Work?
In-work poverty happens when someone is working but still unable to meet basic living costs. It can affect people in low-paid, insecure or part-time jobs, especially if they face additional challenges such as debt, housing insecurity or caring responsibilities.
At St Giles, we don’t stop at getting someone into work. We help people enhance their job quality, whether that means securing more stable or flexible hours, earning better pay, or gaining access to training that unlocks new opportunities. Our support is long-term and focused on helping people build lasting change, not just short-term solutions.
Employment Support for Adults
We provide tailored employment support to adults facing complex barriers. These may include homelessness, time in prison, mental health challenges, addiction, or long-term unemployment. Many of the people we help have been excluded from traditional services and need a more personal, understanding approach.
We work at each person’s pace to build confidence, skills, and a pathway into meaningful work. Our experienced team offers:
- Help with CVs and job applications
- Job search guidance and support
- Interview preparation
- Access to training and qualifications
- Support with work-related costs such as tools or equipment
- Ensuring benefits are accurate and relevant to each person
- Advice on sustaining employment and progressing in the workplace
- Travel support assistance for travel apps and navigating the way to work or an interview
Our approach is client-led, strengths-based, and rooted in lived experience. We empower people to make informed choices and take practical steps toward employment that works for them.
Employment Support for Young People
We support young people aged 16–25 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), or who face challenges such as poverty, family breakdown, care experience, or previous involvement with the criminal justice system.
Our youth employment services combine practical help with emotional support. Many young people we work with have had negative experiences with formal systems, and we take time to rebuild their trust, confidence, and sense of direction.
We offer:
- Confidential, impartial information, advice and guidance
- Career goal setting and support
- Help with CVs and applications
- Coaching through interviews and work placements
- Ensuring benefits are accurate and relevant to each person
- Travel support assistance for travel apps and navigating the way to work or interview
- Help addressing wider issues such as housing, mental health, or relationships
Our goal is not just to help young people into work or training, but to support them to thrive once they get there.