REVOLUTIONISING JOBSEEKER SUPPORT IN GREATER MANCHESTER

• Ingeus has harnessed the power of social prescribing and digital by partnering with the UK’s leading social prescribing software provider, Elemental.
• Elemental social prescribing platform connects Ingeus’ employment coaches with thousands of relevant initiatives provided by charities, community groups and other organisations in Greater Manchester.
• These community initiatives include personal development courses, confidence building classes, and activities focused on helping to overcome depression or anxiety.
• In some instances, activities such as fishing, paddle boarding and gardening are even prescribed to help people overcome some of the health barriers they face in gaining employment.
• Hundreds of people in Greater Manchester have already benefited.

Jobseekers in Greater Manchester are benefiting from an innovative new social prescribing service to help them into employment – the first of its kind in the UK.

Ingeus is providing support through the Working Well (Work and Health Programme) which provides tailored support to individuals with disabilities and health conditions who are seeking work. The programme is commissioned by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and receives support from the European Social Fund.

The service enables the creation of bespoke ‘social prescriptions’ for local support initiatives and activities to help those in long-term unemployment build their capacity to get back into work.

Ingeus is harnessing the power of social prescribing and digital by partnering with the UK’s leading social prescribing software provider, Elemental.

Elemental’s social prescribing platform connects Ingeus’ employment coaches with thousands of relevant initiatives provided by charities, community groups and other organisations in Greater Manchester, allowing them to create personalised packages of support for jobseekers.

These community initiatives include personal development courses, confidence building classes, and activities focused on helping to overcome depression or anxiety. In some instances, activities such as fishing, paddle boarding and gardening are even prescribed to help people overcome some of the health barriers they face in gaining employment.

The service is revolutionising how Ingeus delivers employment support by vastly increasing available options through enabling employment coaches to book participants directly onto relevant activities or interventions. Especially important as Ingeus’ had identified that vulnerable participants would be more likely to attend if they had an appointment booked and someone waiting for them.

Employment coaches can also use reporting tools in the digital platform to assess how participants are getting on with their ‘prescription’, measuring its effectiveness, and making any changes or updates as a result.

Russ Gore, Integration Team Manager for Ingeus, said:

“Ingeus is proud to be the first employment support provider in the UK to use the Elemental platform. The platform enables our employment coaches to refer participants quickly and directly to a huge range of important services and interventions that will support them on their personalised journey towards employment. It allows our partners across Greater Manchester to share their provision with us in a far easier and more efficient way then we have had before, leading to increased attendance and a much more integrated partnership.”

Jennifer Neff, CEO of Elemental Software, said:

“Ingeus wanted to deliver a more personalised and holistic service for their participants and to provide access to a wide range of services offered by partner organisations, agencies and charities in Greater Manchester. They have been able to bring these previously disconnected services together through Elemental’s platform and therefore provide a better integration of services to make a real impact for people in their local neighbourhoods.

“This initiative in Greater Manchester is really leading the way and I expect it to be replicated across many other parts of the UK”.

Hundreds of job seekers with health conditions or disabilities in Greater Manchester have already benefited from the service, with tens of thousands more expected to benefit.

Elemental enabled 491 referrals between September 2020 and March 2021. Of these, 46 were referred to the Standguide Hub, Ingeus’ specialist partner for self-employment advice.