How we began
'Bringing together the corporate and third sector worlds to practically tackle the barriers of unemployment men and women face on their journey to successful employment...'
Suited for Success was created by a group of young professionals who were united by their desire to make a positive impact on the city the ignition was born out of a recognition that unemployment is a major issue that needs tackling.
Lorna Gavin, Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co Corporate Social Responsibilty manager explains how the project got started: "David Richardson (regional director of Lloyds Banking Group), Nick Venning (marketing director at PwC and chairman of Thrive) and I brought together a dozen or so young professionals from firms around Birmingham and gave them a brief to find out what the needs are in the community. Go and do something good for the city that isn't already being done"
Originally it was set up as a project called Project 14, which followed on from another project helping to get people with mental health problems back into the workplace.
One of the group members Laura Holmes, an associate at law firm Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co, explain how Suited for Success came about: “We wanted to come up with some sort of initiative that would help Birmingham in some way and went away and thought about it for some time. We came up with this idea to get gently worn workwear and give it to people who are out of work so that hopefully they can get jobs. We got into partnership with Birmingham Central Foodbank having identified Ladywood as an area we wanted to help."
The group partnered with a city foodbank who was running as also piloting a job club at the time supporting people getting back into work so there was great synergy with what Suited For Success wanted to do.The initial partnership with the foodbank was a great start as we saw the big overlap between poverty and unemployment.
Suited for Success now aims to be a great resource for the unemploymed in Birmingham and hopes to inspire businesses and communities across the UK