Leading the way to employment
Friday 27 June 2025 marked UK’s official Employability Day and this week, 7-11 July, sees the launch of a new National Employability Week where the spotlight will initially be on Birmingham and the Midlands regions before it rolls out across the UK over the next couple of years.
The campaign’s focus is on young people and connections, two themes that resonate deeply throughout everything Platfform’s own Employment Team delivers every single day. In the last few years, the team has gone from strength to strength, and their community campaigns and services are managed by dedicated professionals who support people from all walks of life, giving hope and agency to anyone that makes contact with them. Touchpoints are wide and varied and include community events, job centre drop-ins, arts and crafts workshops, walk & talks, warm welcome sessions, housing and tenancy advice and gardening projects at the Taraggan allotment – all designed to empower individuals, giving them the confidence and skills to take their next steps.
In the last year, the team supported 689 people from referrals – over a quarter were aged 16 to 24 years, and nearly 500 were over 25 years. Hundreds of people referred to the team have either entered employment on leaving the service, gained a work-relevant qualification, undertaken volunteering opportunities or started actively looking for work.
On Platfform’s Employment Team are two inspirational team members, James and Will, who once received support from Platfform and who now help people who used to be in their position. Today we’re sharing James’ story.
With Ceri’s support - in giving me the confidence to believe I could do it - I applied for the Peer Mentor role and was successful. I can honestly say this changed my life.
“Hello, I’m James Symes, Partnership Lead for the Employment Services projects within Platfform, and this is my story.
When I was first introduced to Platfform, I wasn’t in the best place. Not only struggling with my wellbeing but also my self worth. Working for a private company in finance, with absolutely no job satisfaction. By no means was I in the worst situation but this definitely wasn’t the way I envisioned my life. I wanted to give back from my life experiences, use my skills, my empathy, my knowledge.
Then I met Ceri from Platfform’s Caerphilly Pathways project.
It seemed very quickly that Ceri could completely relate to and understand my situation, and after a brief chat, she knew exactly what I needed, even though I wasn’t sure what I needed. Ceri immediately identified my need to help people and therefore brought forward the idea of moving into a sector of work where I could support people.
This is something I had briefly thought about but didn’t really feel I was anywhere near in the position to do so. Ceri explained the role of a Peer Mentor and how it aligned with my lived experience and skillset. With Ceri’s support – in giving me the confidence to believe I could do it – I applied for the Peer Mentor role and was successful. I can honestly say this changed my life. “
I now feel I've achieved a sense of worth, that I am contributing positively to society.
“The moment I started with Platfform, it felt like I had been released from shackles, a massive weight off my chest. Given the autonomy to work in the best way to suit me, I felt freedom in my work for the first time ever.
Supporting people with their wellbeing, helping individuals conquer their struggles, being part of a team that are genuinely good and full of passion for what they do – this drove me to pour my everything into it, going above and beyond, eventually leading me to my first promotion in my whole working life into the Partnership Lead role. All of this was possible, with the understanding and support from Ceri and Platfform.
I now feel I’ve achieved a sense of worth, that I am contributing positively to society. I’ve gained more knowledge and experience and hope to grow further in this sector of work because now I KNOW it’s possible. I have Platfform to thank for so much and I am forever grateful.
My small piece of advice to anyone would be to always accept help whether it’s from friends, family or services. It does not make you weak. The most successful do not achieve everything on their own. As they say, two heads are better than one!”
If you or someone you know would benefit from getting in touch with Platfform’s Employment Team, you can contact Julie or Ceri at gwentoows@platfform.org. If you would like more information on our free community drop-in sessions across South Wales, visit our dedicated local drop-in page here.
