You can now make a referral to Smart Works using an online form

Making a referral is simple and hassle-free. With our new online form, referring to Smart Works is now quicker than ever, taking only a few minutes to complete.

Within one working day, Smart Works will reach out to the woman you have referred, ensuring that she receives the necessary support at a crucial time.

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Location: Birmingham
Date: October 6, 2017
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Smart Works celebrates supporting 243 Birmingham women in first year image

Last month saw us mark the first anniversary of Smart Works Birmingham. Hosted by MediaCom Birmingham, we welcomed specially invited guests including Smart Works patron Betty Jackson and Smart Works Chair, Lady Juliet Hughes-Hallett to join us in celebrating our achievements over our first year.

In our first 12 months, we supported 243 women before interview and 55% of those we were able to get in touch with got the job.

The event celebrated all the wonderful people involved in making Smart Works Birmingham a success and provided an opportunity for those interested in getting involved in the future a chance to find out more. We recruited several new volunteers and three new trustees from the event who will be supporting our work and ensuring we can grow and develop the service.

Leading fashion designer, Betty Jackson said: “First impressions are everything. We help women transform their looks and you see them blossom in front of you. But it’s not just their clothes that changes.

“When you make a woman look great and feel great, their confidence rockets. It’s this confidence that goes on to help them secure that job. It has a ripple effect on their lives and their families lives.”

Pardeep Heer, associate director at MediaCom Birmingham, said: “The impact that Smart Works has made in its first year has been incredible, and it’s an honor for us to support such a great charity.

“We’ve been working with Smart Works for a while now, taking part in fundraising activities, hosting events and putting them in touch with some of our contacts, so it’s great to see our partnership with them develop.”

We’ve had an incredibly successful first year and the event provided an opportunity to reflect on the service and how we can make it even more of a success in year two.

Lady Juliet Hughes-Hallet said: “For Smart Works to work, you need the women and you need the jobs. Birmingham has both. It’s a vibrant city that keeps growing, and is in the center of everything.

“But you also need the support from businesses and corporations. MediaCom North has been a great supporter for us. They’ve hosted this event for us, and they also hosted a similar event in their Manchester office last year. It’s a really valued partnership.”

Huge thanks to MediaCom Birmingham for partnering with us on this event and hosting such a fabulous evening.

July 17, 2017

Scoutess Consultancy Fundraising Event

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October 16, 2017

Scoutess Consultancy Fashion Show

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Location: Birmingham
Date: July 17, 2017
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Scoutess Consultancy Fundraising Event image

We were delighted to partner with Scoutess Consultancy, a recruitment organisation based in Leicester, for a fundraising event on Wednesday 28th June.

30 women attended, representing some of the top businesses in Leicester including Hastings Direct, Next, Topps Tiles and Tutti Rouge to name a few. The event was held at Veeno’s wine bar in Leicester and was arranged to raise awareness and donate clothing and funds for Smart Works Birmingham. Our Trustee Sherron was in attendance, along with Karen Orton, Director of Scoutess Consultancy, and Jessica  Prebble, Director/Owner of Tutti Rouge.

After a glass of bubbly and an introduction to Smart Works, Karen spoke about why she is passionate about the work we do. Karen has been instrumental in starting a fundraising network to help inspire women to advance their careers, whether that be starting a new one or returning to work.

The raffle raised £700 for Smart Works Birmingham. All guests donated clothing and accessories as part of a clothing drive too.  Donated raffle prizes included wine tasting from Veeno, handbags from the John Roca range, Just Hype clothing vouchers, Win or Loose menswear voucher, Yours clothing voucher, cocktail making classes at Maiyango a beauty box from Amelia Noir, family tickets from Leicestershire Cricket Club, six bottles of Champagne from Hastings Direct, a career counselling session from Scoutess Consultancy and a bra fitting with lingerie set from Tutti Rouge.

​Karen Orton from Scoutess Consultancy said, “We were amazed at the number of gifts donated by businesses for this wonderful cause. It’s wonderful to see businesses recognising the importance of helping women advance within their career locally. We are already planning our next fun event, which promises to be a big one!”

Huge thanks to Karen at Scoutess, Tutti Rouge and to Veeno’s for hosting this wonderful event.

www.scoutess.co.uk  /  www.tuttirouge.com / www.theveenocompany.com

June 1, 2017

Unmissable Clothing Sales this summer

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October 6, 2017

Smart Works celebrates supporting 243 Birmingham women in first year

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Location: Birmingham
Date: June 1, 2017
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We’re delighted to be bringing not one, but two fabulous women’s clothing sales to Birmingham this summer.

Our first will be held on Saturday 24th June, 10am – 4pm at Northfield Community Partnership, 693 Bristol Road South, Birmingham, B31 2JT. The second will be in Birmingham city centre at The Arcadian, Hurst Street, Birmingham, B5 4TD on Thursday 6th July, 12pm – 6pm.

Pick up some bargains including new and pre-loved women’s clothing and accessories from high street and designer brands. Enter our raffle to be in with the chance to win some designer goodies.

All proceeds from both sales will go to Smart Works Birmingham to help us continue supporting women from Birmingham and the West Midlands before their job interviews.

Huge thanks to Northfield Community Partnership for hosting the first sale on the 24th June. There is a £1 entry fee and all clothes will be £10 or less.

The event on 6th July is held in partnership with The Arcadian, Birmingham. Drop in and shop till you drop in the open space within the Arcadian.

   

May 4, 2017

Smart Works Volunteer Internship

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Scoutess Consultancy Fundraising Event

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Location: Birmingham
Date: May 4, 2017
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We’re recruiting for a Volunteer Internship to work part time in the Smart Works Birmingham office.

Volunteers are central to our success, as they deliver all aspects of our service, and as we look to support more unemployed women we are looking to recruit an intern to join our volunteer community. This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who is committed to supporting our work and who is looking to gain experience in a lively office environment.

Role Description

As a volunteer intern, you will gain practical administrative experience. You will:

  • Provide administrative support to our centre Manager. This will include processing and inputting client questionnaire data, as well as handling information about our referral partners.
  • Speak to clients and referrers on the phone and use our database to process bookings.
  • Welcome clients to Smart Works and ensure all clients feel comfortable. For many clients you will be the first person they meet on their Smart Works visit; it is essential that you are friendly, welcoming and professional.
  • Become part of the Smart Works community. You will be joining a small close-knit team so you will need to be a good team-player and you should be prepared to provide support to staff and other volunteers as and when they need it.

This is unique opportunity for somebody wishing to gain experience in admin, fashion, PR, social media or the charity sector.

“The time I have spent interning at Smart Works has been a huge learning curve for me, having real world experience in the charity sector has given me so much more than any other internship would’ve. I have been given many different opportunities to get involved in everything, from the day-to-day running of the office to the marketing of Smart Works. I have grown so much during my time here and my experience has been invaluable, I don’t believe I would’ve had this level of experience anywhere else during my placement year.”

Lauren – Fashion Communication and Promotion student at Huddersfield University.

Location and Logistics

You will be based in our Birmingham centre, which is a one of our newest offices. You will be at the heart of the action as you will volunteer alongside our centre Manager.

Volunteering with Smart Works is rewarding and engaging. You will be trained in the different aspects of your role and you will have regular catch-ups with a staff member.

We are looking for a volunteer to join us 2 days a week from 1st June for 3-12 months (based on your availability). We are at our busiest between Monday and Friday, 9.30am to 4.30pm, so we are ideally looking for an intern to volunteer between those hours. We are, however, open to discussing and adjusting this schedule – including the start and end date.

This position will be unpaid.

Smart Works Birmingham Address: 695 Bristol Road South, Birmingham, B31 2JT

Application details

If you would be interested in volunteering with Smart Works then please send a copy of your CV and covering letter to Laura Dalby at Laura.Dalby@smartworks.org.uk. We will invite applicants who we feel are a good fit for this opportunity to visit Smart Works Birmingham for an informal interview. All applicants must be 18 years of age or above.

February 6, 2017

My time at Smart Works Birmingham

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Location: Birmingham
Date: February 6, 2017
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In January 2017 we welcomed student Megan to join us for a work experience placement here at Smart Works Birmingham. Assisting with admin, Megan wrote this piece about her time with us:

I’m Megan and I am a student at Bournville College completing a Level 3 Diploma in Business Administration and had to complete two weeks’ work experience.

During my time at Smart Works Birmingham I have learnt so much more about the organisation than I already knew.  As I currently work downstairs at Northfield Community Partnership, I knew a little bit how Smart Works worked but it is so much more than I thought.  Being at Smart Works I have learnt why it was originally set up in London, why it is a very important organisation and I now have knowledge about how the other Smart Works across the country work with each other.

I have been able to view one of the appointments to see how everything works here.  I found it very interesting how the stylists go to pick out the clothes they think the clients would like and then when the client went to try on the outfit and was amazed by the outfit the stylists had chosen.  The client was very pleased with her appointment and it’s amazing to see what a fantastic effect the service has on people.

I have also completed several tasks which included creating a spreadsheet which was about Temping Agencies within Birmingham and adding their contact details with the names of the organisation.  Another job was to input pictures of clients after their dressing, in the clothes they had chosen and put them onto their profiles on the database.  I also created a signposting file which has a list of training opportunities and services that could help clients when looking to get back into work.  The list includes a short paragraph about the company or training opportunity to show clients what they do and their contact details.

An important job which I was given was to sort out clothes that had been kindly donated.  In addition to these jobs I was given a task to look for Women’s Networking Groups and events within Birmingham.

My time here has been great; Joanne is an amazing Manager for Smart Works as she is very welcoming, organised and kind.  The volunteers are also very welcoming towards the clients and make them feel very comfortable.

We wish Megan all the best with her studies and look forward to supporting more work experience students in the future.

December 5, 2016

Smart Works Birmingham Launch Event

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Location: Birmingham
Date: December 5, 2016
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It’s been an exciting summer as Smart Works launched in Birmingham in August 2016. In just four months, Smart Works Birmingham has supported over 80 women and achieved a 54% success rate in our goal to help unemployed women across the second city get a job and become financially independent.

Smart Works Birmingham Manager Joanne Penn – our only salaried employee – is responsible for recruiting her own team of volunteers and now heads a force of 25 people from all over the West Midlands.

Joanne says: “With extensive knowledge of the problems that our clients face, Smart Works Birmingham volunteers are trained to help our clients to feel confident and look fabulous. Our stylists provide advice and expertise to help each lady to select a top-to-toe outfit to wear for their interview.  We make sure that they feel truly comfortable in the clothes they have chosen, and that they have everything they need, from a winter coat to a pair of tights.

“Following the dressing session, our skilled and experienced volunteer interview coaches work one-on-one in a compassionate and supportive way. This gives the ladies the chance to practice both asking and answering questions – some of which they may have found difficult in previous interview scenarios.

Joanne says “We work with our clients to ensure that we are not only helping to boost their confidence but we are empowering them so that they start to believe in their own ability to succeed and they can move on to a better life.

“We’ve seen the transformative effect that smart clothing has on the ladies we work with. There is an instant change in posture and the way our clients carry themselves – they look in the mirror and feel that they can take on the world. We should never underestimate the power that clothes have on self-esteem and together, we can harness the positive power of fashion to help the people that use our service to look and feel the best they can be before their interview.  The interview coaching is equally empowering for those with low self-esteem or lack of confidence.

“A visit to Smart Works can change the course of a woman’s life.  As one of them said recently: ‘I was quite nervous on arrival but made completely at ease by the two friendly staff members who made me feel like I was special. We tried on various outfits and styles – the girls tirelessly restyled me until I felt confident for my interview. Looking good, feeling good thanks to Smart Works.’

“Nationwide, 59% of women go on to get a job.  My team of volunteers is just amazing and I am thrilled that we have achieved a 54% success rate in helping to get our Birmingham clients employed.  That’s a fantastic achievement for our first four months.”

One of Smart Works major retail partners, Hobbs, hosted a reception at their Birmingham store to celebrate the scheme’s initial success on Tuesday 29th November.

Hobbs Chief Executive Meg Lustman says: “It’s a privilege to support Smart Works, a fantastic resource for out-of-work women who need an extra boost of confidence to help get them back into the work place. Smart Works’ clients speak of feeling valued, cared for and positive in their abilities – thanks to the expert training and clothes the charity provides to help them at interview. Hobbs is delighted to contribute to help these women feel prepared and confident.”

Corporate supporters and specially invited guests attended the celebratory event and were given the opportunity to meet Smart Works CEO Kate Stephens and Rebecca Debenham, Chair of Smart Works Birmingham board of trustees and her colleagues.

Rebecca Debenham said: “The Smart Works Birmingham team has been particularly successful in getting this project off the ground in the West Midlands. Joanne’s energy, enthusiasm and commitment makes her the perfect motivator for her team of volunteers who each bring their own skills and talents to the job in hand. We are hugely grateful to them and to our commercial partners and wider funders whose support is also crucial.

“I am confident that Smart Works Birmingham will continue to grow and the Board are very proud of the work that has been achieved during its opening months. We look forward to welcoming more women from across the West Midlands to help on their journey to sustainable employment.”

July 26, 2016

Smart Works Birmingham opens for business

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My time at Smart Works Birmingham

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Location: Birmingham
Date: July 26, 2016
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We were delighted to welcome MP for Birmingham Northfield Richard Burden who officially opened Smart Works Birmingham at the end of July.

He was joined by Councillor Brett O’Reilly, Trish Rowe, Senior Employment and Partnerships Leader for Department for Work and Pensions, and Rosie Ashworth, UK Head of Operations at Smart Works.

We invited a number of our strategic partners to celebrate the launch of the sixth Smart Works office and were overwhelmed by the support and positive response.

Smart Works Birmingham is now open, providing interview styling, clothing and interview training for unemployed women with a confirmed job interview from across the city and wider West Midlands.

July 10, 2016

Future Williams & Glyn hold a Clothing Drive for Smart Works Birmingham

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Smart Works Birmingham Launch Event

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Location: Birmingham
Date: July 10, 2016
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We are extremely grateful to staff at Future Williams & Glyn in Birmingham city centre who held a Clothing Drive for us in July.

The event took place before we were open to see clients, the Clothing Drive was a great boost for our stock and helped to highlight the work that Smart Works does nationally. The team also did some fundraising for us, bringing in a donation of £85 – a great start to help us on our way with helping women in the Birmingham area back into employment.

July 26, 2016

Smart Works Birmingham opens for business

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