{"id":1317,"date":"2023-12-08T09:20:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T09:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/?p=1317"},"modified":"2023-12-08T09:20:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T09:20:29","slug":"how-the-gift-of-digital-can-open-the-door-to-future-employment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/2023\/12\/08\/how-the-gift-of-digital-can-open-the-door-to-future-employment\/","title":{"rendered":"How the gift of digital can open the door to future employment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Course<\/a>
Learners on the Multiply back-to-work course are finding job searching easier thanks to their Digital Doorway laptops.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finding a job can be difficult at the best of times \u2013 but try searching for employment when you are offline, and a difficult task becomes almost impossible.<\/p>\n

But thanks to Dorset Council\u2019s Digital Doorway scheme, job seekers in Weymouth and west Dorset are now more equipped to find work.<\/p>\n

Already benefitting from excellent courses run by BCHA and Brighter Horizons, 32 residents are now also digitally equipped to complete their training and go out into the virtual world to look for work.<\/p>\n

They were all referred to Digital Doorway \u2013 which gifts laptops or tablets to digitally excluded residents.<\/p>\n

For these jobseekers, a laptop was the most suitable device as it makes it easier for them to do online training and complete job application forms.<\/p>\n

We spoke to two recipients \u2013 both had lost their livelihoods due to the impact of the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n

Fashion designer Mercedes from Dorchester saw her business and life fall apart from the fall-out of Covid.<\/p>\n

The 56 year-old, who lives with her 16 year-old son, has been unemployed since her fashion business collapsed over a year ago.<\/p>\n

Mercedes\u2019 business had been growing year on year for 7 years. She was a designer and wholesaler and oversaw every aspect of her firm, from finance to production to graphic design and marketing.<\/p>\n

But when the pandemic hit everything froze and shops became more nervous about buying and Mercedes soon saw her orders coming to an end.<\/p>\n

Brexit added further complications and it came to the point she had to choose to either borrow money to keep the business going or to close it \u2013 she chose the latter.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Mercedes with her Digital Doorway laptop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She said: \u201cIt was a very difficult time for me, not only did my business collapse but so did everything else in my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cFashion had always been my life; I didn\u2019t know how to do anything else. Living in Dorchester it was almost impossible to find similar work and I just didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the Job Centre, Mercedes was introduced to the training organisation Brighter Horizons and the Multiply course it runs in Weymouth on behalf of BCHA.<\/p>\n

The course is for the unemployed to help increase their confidence and give them the skills needed to find work.<\/p>\n

Mercedes signed up to the course and was also referred to Dorset Council\u2019s Digital Doorway scheme to receive a laptop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I was stuck,\u201d Mercedes recalled. \u201cI wanted to open myself up to new skills, I wanted to recycle myself!<\/p>\n

\u201cThe course was really great for me. I started the course full of doubts and came away very motivated. That\u2019s where I am now, I feel like I\u2019m turning a corner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis laptop will give me so much more freedom and thanks to the course, I feel I have more knowledge to use it. It\u2019s opened the door to technology for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need tech for everything \u2013 it\u2019s endless. When looking for jobs you need to search the internet and you need to be contactable digitally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a laptop it\u2019s much easier to search and apply for jobs and do online courses. It will make a huge difference to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart from Weymouth has been unemployed on and off since 2011 and lost his most recent job at a local restaurant because of the pandemic. This resulted in anxiety and depression, affecting his ability to find new employment.<\/p>\n

The 49 year-old joined the Multiply course and received a Digital Doorway laptop. In addition, Stewart has received invaluable support from one of Dorset Council\u2019s volunteer digital champions who is based at the Weymouth Job Centre once a week.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Stewart, with his Digital Doorway laptop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe course has been enlightening and so helpful,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cAnd now I have the laptop it will help me in so many ways, but especially for searching and applying for jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cGone are the days you just can walk into somewhere and ask for work \u2013 it\u2019s all online now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also been able to see Nigel, the digital champion, whose knowledge is just outstanding. He has been able to help me so much and if I get stuck with the new laptop, I know who to turn to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to use the laptop, expand my learning and improve my chances of employment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiply is designed to help people back into work and have more confidence digitally.<\/p>\n

The course starts from basics and then builds on the learners\u2019 digital skills each day.<\/p>\n

Together the learners support each other as they develop their skills and are also offered ongoing support from Dorset Council\u2019s volunteer digital champion.<\/p>\n

Course leader, Pia Unwin, said: \u201cDigital exclusion is a huge barrier to finding work and maintaining skills. The cost-of-living crisis is making it difficult for people to prioritise between keeping warm, eating and having\u00a0“luxuries” such as Internet and devices, which really are the basics to enter the world of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cDigital Doorway has made an exceptional difference to the clients that have come through our doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some of them, without our courses and interventions and the support from the Digital Doorway these guys would be still out of work, would have less access to what many of us would see as basics and still struggling significantly to break the digital barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to continue this support. Between us we can empower and support people to integrate into the world of work and to help them to discover what is accessible and available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Digital Doorway is a referral scheme and was made possible by using funds raised by recycling old Dorset Council devices. That funding is due to end soon.<\/p>\n

Dorset organisations that would like to find out more about the scheme, or are interested in becoming a Digital Doorway funding partner, can email digitaldorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Finding a job can be difficult at the best of times \u2013 but try searching for employment when you are offline, and a difficult task becomes almost impossible. But thanks to Dorset Council\u2019s Digital Doorway scheme, job seekers in Weymouth and west Dorset are now more equipped to find work. Already benefitting from excellent… Read more How the gift of digital can open the door to future employment<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1907,"featured_media":1318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[136,49,57,133],"tags":[137,43,52],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/files\/2023\/12\/digital-doorway-multiply-10-1-of-1rs-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1907"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1321,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317\/revisions\/1321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}