Helping people with long-term conditions access work

Meaningful employment can significantly impact our health. Having low or no income can contribute to poor health outcomes. And work can meet important psychological and social needs.

To explore the connection between work and health, we are partnering with GoodPeople and Black Thrive. We want to help people with long-term conditions enter or improve the quality of their employment.

GoodPeople: using corporate social responsibility to improve working opportunities

GoodPeople delivers projects on social mobility, social impact recruitment and corporate responsibility. With them, we will focus on connecting job seekers with employers in the local area.

With £96,503 of our funding, the first part of the project will map the support needs a job seeker may have. In turn, we’ll speak with employers to understand the flexible work opportunities available.

Following this, GoodPeople will develop a recruitment platform for people with long-term conditions. The platform will match job seekers with opportunities suiting their skills and support needs.

Black Thrive: removing barriers for Black people entering work

Alongside GoodPeople, we are partnering with Black Thrive. Black Thrive works to address the inequalities that impact the mental health and wellbeing of Black people in Lambeth.

Black communities often experience multiple disadvantages. We know Black people experience barriers to accessing good work. In this country, they are 15% less likely to be in employment than their White British peers.

And when it comes to health, our research shows they often develop long-term conditions sooner than their White neighbours. In Lambeth and Southwark, 18% of the adult population are Black – yet account for 27% of people living with multiple long-term conditions.

Black Thrive will use £738,600 of funding to identify and support projects that can improve access to meaningful employment.