Partnerships within our City: boxxe & Converge
When I joined boxxe back in October 2022, I was proud to be joining a business that truly wants to make a difference and give back to the community. Each year, every employee has an astounding 11.5 days (yes really!) to give back through volunteering and community work.
I was lucky enough to join the People Team, just as we were getting involved in a fantastic partnership with Converge who were about to embark on their first Employability Skills course engaging with an employer.
Converge are part of York St John University and they provide a range of free courses for adults who are using mental health services. Their aim is to “open up the University and everything that it can offer to people who, for a time in their lives, have experienced mental ill health”.
The People Team were thrilled to be getting involved in such a meaningful programme, particularly given that health & wellbeing is something that we are very passionate about. The idea of being able to use our skills within the team to make an impact, was very exciting.
The 3-part course was designed to support people with career gaps due to mental health. The course covered:
- Confidence building
- CV and interview skills
- An insight into the workplace (with a trip to boxxe HQ).
We worked closely with Converge to ensure that the course met the specific needs of the 8 students. This was a new initiative for us within our community programme at boxxe, and we were keen to deliver a positive experience for the students and build some great relationships to help the individual participants get as much out of it as possible.
For me personally, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some of the students on a 1-1 basis; hearing their stories and learning more about the challenges and struggles faced by the students.
It was very insightful and got me thinking about what support is available for people, what other companies are doing and what more we can do here at boxxe to continue driving wellbeing and inclusion within the workplace and alongside our partners.
I am proud to have been involved with the programme and was delighted to see some of the positive feedback from the students:
“I did the last session of the boxxe programme on Friday and just wanted to say how useful I found all the sessions. The session on Friday was at their offices and offered 1-2-1 sessions to allow for assistance with your CVs etc – something I found especially useful. That, and the immersion in a corporate environment, really boosted my confidence no end. I am now full of enthusiasm and confidence – something that has eluded me for some time. Long may it continue.”
Following the success of the first course, we are looking into how we can extend the employability sessions and build on the relationship with Converge in 2023 and beyond.
