Outreach, Delivery and Employer Engagement in Working Potential

Working Potential was a National Lottery Community Fund funded project commissioned by Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO) which aimed to engage up to 300 unemployed older carers not engaged with statutory employability programmes. Ambition for Ageing commissioned three regional providers in the North West of England to deliver a service to support older carers into employment; all contractors had existing employment support provision. This report recounts the qualitative interviews and focus groups undertaken with carers, Working Potential coaches and other project stakeholders between February and November 2019 across three locations in the North West of England. The research highlights the instrumental and facilitative impact for older carers of fostering and re-establishing their connectedness to others, and how early stage, community-based, individual, and group-based coaching interventions may provide useful adjuncts to pre-employment support for older carers. Recommendations for research, policy and practice development are outlined