A 42-year-old Bere Alston man knows his future career is in safe hands after finding work again, following years of unemployment due to health problems.
Lee Newton benefitted from Remploy's expertise as the UK's leading provider of specialist employment services to jobseekers who have a disability or health condition, to find work with Plymouth-based security specialist Securi-Guard.
Lee's previous career was very different — he used to teach windsurfing until an accident in 1993 cut his career short and left him with a back injury. He had an operation but found it difficult to maintain a job as he was unable to sit or stand for long periods of time. While he wanted to work, he found himself drifting from one short-term job to another due to restrictions caused by his back problems.
After a second operation, he received long-term incapacity benefit for five years. During that time, he became very depressed through not working and, with rising debts due to the cost of his private health care, eventually lost his home and moved into a caravan on farm land.
Said Lee: 'One day I decided I had to get out of the rut I was stuck in. I found a housing charity which helped me get a roof over my head within a few weeks. The next step was to get a job.'
Lee was referred to Remploy's Plymouth city centre recruitment branch by local Pathways to Work provider A4E.
Remploy employment advisor Melanie Ford helped him find a training course.
She then worked closely with Lee to identify relevant job opportunities and found him a guard vacancy with Securi-Guard. He now works shifts, patrolling buildings around the county, which is ideal as it combines walking and sitting so he can cope with his back pain effectively.
Securi-Guard's human resources manager Neil Randall is more than satisfied with Lee and with Remploy's service: 'It's tough enough to find work but even more so if you have a disability or health condition. If we can help more disabled people into work, it's the best thing we can do.'
'The team at the Plymouth branch is fantastic. They know exactly the sort of candidates and specific skills we are looking for and if I call them with a vacancy, they get back to me within the hour with CVs of suitable people, as they did when we appointed Lee. It's a very fast turnaround.'
Lee says finding the job has completely changed his life: 'Without money coming in, everything starts to grind to a halt. You can't interact socially and you start to stagnate. Now I'm working again, I feel I'm moving on. I've cleared my debts so I can start planning for the future.'