A4e and the British Heart Foundation

A4e works with charitable organisations in their high street shops on a regular basis.  One of our main partners has been the British Heart Foundation.  We have worked with their stores in Hyde, Sale, Salford and Eccles to provide work experience and retail sector training to several of our Voluntary Sector clients.

One of the most successful partnerships has been our work with the Eccles Store.  While the volume of clients that have gained work experience here is not as high as some of the other charity shops we work with due the location of the store the results we have seen have been exceptional.

The store manager at Eccles, Ann Long, delivers on the job training in all aspects of working in a small retail environment.  The clients there are given experience and training in stock taking and stock control as well as the stock rotation in the store front.  All of the clients Action fro Employment has put into the British Heart Foundation at Eccles have received full on the job training in the use of electronic tills, cash handling and face to face customer service.

One particular example of how successful the partnership between A4e and BHF has been with a client called Joyce Benson.  Joyce attended A4e originally as a single mother who had some previous retail experience however due to her time without work she felt low on confidence and not ready to begin work in a busy retail environment.  Joyce attended a work experience placement with BHF in Eccles in order to help her to get back into a working pattern and to gain valid work experience and a reference to put on her CV.  Joyce received on the job training in all the areas detailed above and during her time in A4e’s centre she received help and training in application processes and interview techniques.

With the help of A4e’s recruitment team Joyce applied for and was successful in gaining full time employment at TK Maxx.  Joyce is still working at TK Maxx after more than a year and has recently been promoted to the position of supervisor.

The work between A4e and the British Heart Foundation helped the store itself by providing a full time worker to assist their volunteers in the day to day running of the shop.  In return Joyce received sufficient training and experience to enable her to gain full time employment.