“For a younger person, the Tús scheme is excellent,” says Angela Reddin. “For anyone coming out of school, it shows them how to work with people and deal with the public, and they learn so much from the people that they work with.”
Angela will have been a participant on the Tús scheme for one year this coming August, having an “absolutely brilliant” time on her work placement in the Jack and Jill charity shop in Portlaoise.
Tús, run by Laois Partnership Company, provides short-term working opportunities for unemployed people, with participants gaining the benefits that being in the workplace provides, while community and voluntary organisations benefit from the skills and experience of the participants.
Experience is something that Angela has in spades, having worked in such diverse sectors as catering, photography, and even as a museum tour guide.
She was unemployed in the wake of Covid when she was directed towards the Tús scheme by the Department of Social Protection. Although now coming towards the end of her working life, Angela is a keen advocate of how Tús can help anyone who is just beginning their journey into fulltime employment.
“It’s a great way for young people to get their foothold into a work environment and give them the confidence.
“The change in people, even the people here on work experience, I’ve seen the difference in a couple of weeks. I’ve seen a huge change in them, and that’s more important than anything,” says Angela.
“I have worked with the public all my life, but you find it different because you’re dealing with a different level of people here. It’s been a great experience,” she says, praising the support she has received from manager, Martina Cooper.
Martina, who has been manager of the Portlaoise store for three years, says that the Tús participants she has working with her are enthusiastic and productive and take well to the necessary training.
“They have to know every aspect of the shop, from opening up to closing, working the till, what way the floor is supposed to be, sorting donations, pricing. We have them for one year, with the biggest percentage staying for the full year,” says Martina.
The Jack and Jill shop is just one of the organisations in Laois to have benefited from Tús participants.
In the local Oxfam Shop in Portlaoise’s Lyster Square, manager Laura O’Brien currently has six workers on the scheme, which is needed considering how busy the store is daily.
“We try to make it work in a way that will be suitable to the staff. They have 19.5 hours to complete, so they can do it in the morning time if that suits them, if they have kids to pick up from school, or they can do two full days and one half day to get it done in the bulk of the week so they have the rest of the week free,” explains Laura.
“They love it and I love them as well, they’re great and really reliable. Because they have that knowledge that they must be here 19.5 hours, they know they’re committing to it.”
Among the Tús participants in the Oxfam Shop are Hanna Berezenko, who arrived in Ireland from Ukraine two years ago.
She says she is very happy on the scheme, having met some very kind people and received help with her English. Likewise, Lordanna Muntean, from Romania, is enthusiastic about the people she has encountered, who have helped her with her literacy skills, as is Laura Samkova, who is from the Czech Republic.
Tús Supervisor, Des Cooney explains that besides experience in the workplace, there are opportunities for participants on the scheme to upskill through extra training.
“If they find a course that they’re interested in and would like to do, like childcare or whatever, they can come to me and I try to see if we can fund it. They’ll get manual handling training as well, which is automatic. Any assistance that they need, they come to me with it,” says Des.
Work placements on the Tús scheme last up to 18 months and are available throughout Laois in such areas as community groups, sports clubs or charities, with participants receiving a top-up on their Social Welfare payment while working.
Besides the Tús scheme, Laois Partnership Company also facilitates work placements through the Community Employment Childcare Training and Development Programme, which provides participants with training and qualifications in the childcare sector, and the Rural Social Scheme, which provides part-time farmers with an opportunity to earn a supplementary income.
If you are in receipt of a Social Welfare payment and interested in exploring a work placement, drop into your local Social Welfare office to discuss your options.
For more information on any of the work placement schemes run through Laois Partnership Company, contact 05786 61900, email info@laoispartnership.ie, or visit the website at www.laoispartnership.ie.
