Shaw Trust Avis 

Currently awaiting surgery for an inguinial hernia which limits my ability to walk, amongst other things. So these morons decide to book me an appointment, 45 minute walk away at a library. Between Shaw Trust and the incompetent, heartless cun*s at the DWP I feel like throwing myself off a bridge.

Shaw Trust, well what can I say it a mistake when jobcentre recommended Shaw Trust to me and I stupidly said yes, at first they were helpful and one day a member of Shaw Trust staff Ruby rang me up rudely and abruptly, so because I reported her Shaw Trust seems to go down hill like I feel like am being stich up because I reported Ruby, John who I see seems to be of sick and Shaw Trust staff meant to phone me and never did ,

Where to start!
Joined shaw trust in order to return to the world of work. DWP wouldn't even answer a question so I moved on.
Promised the earth they did. Insisted my CV wasn't up to scratch so they edited it. Changed the address to red. And, added spelling mistakes.

It took a month and hours of calls to explain my roles and qualifications. Emails, photos.

I asked why that happened, had the I'm trying to help speech. Their life story etc. What they could pay for, due to the lump some the get per person. But when you asked, and provided proof of interview, the route, 3 options and cost. Nothing ever delivered... apart from the fact that drudge dealers take daysavers.

"I KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY, BUT WE CAN PAY YOU AFTER, PROVIDED WE GET THE RECIEPTS!"

MY WORD. HOW COULD ANYONE HAVE THE CHEEK TO DO THAT, BUT THE SHAW TRUST.

the world needs people that are prepared to put up with this in pursuit of not a lot of recompense, partner, kids and bills! Mental conditions, health family problems etc.

So I got myself a job with my own CV. Needed £34 to get to the place. Sign £38,000 contract, collect company car. Great news ay? And my advisor took 7 days to respond with a "why did you email at 2am? Asking for a bus ticket, are you using drugs?" But obviously no response just lots of information to send, running around. And ofcourse the how busy they are speech.

I emailed because it was 2am. I was desperate to get that job. And many other things.... so couldn't sleep and just wanted to know if I could get their, or give good notice to rearrange. Its like you are trying to prevent people from returning to work, and for a charity. You just collect the required information to get money from DWP?

I ask for information on how to complain. And a freedom of information request. They decided to tell me how very helpful the are. And how they have gone out of their way to help "people like me". I'm an ex RAF avionics engineer on fighter jets.

I've been off work due to PTSD etc. But I love working, and people who show me how great they are. NOT they, who just waist peoples time not actually doing anything.

They did select what I could complain about. Felt threatened when told them GDPR rules, and just carried on saying you do it your way... I do record my calls, and it was stated

I promise you I'll do my bit to stop this from continuing. You have a contact that prevents them from helping us return to work or they could be fined....

Call yourselves a charity!

Your reviews are appalling. Do your friends etc know about your reviews?

I have gone through your complaint process. Absolutely disgusting, but I'll go through all the steps

Since I have been with Shaw Trust, they have changed my support manager three times and did not warn me until a day before my appointment. I would get an email from the new support manager telling me they were the new one and tell them my situation. One of the support managers did not respond to me, and my current one is not responding to any of my emails. I have told Shaw Trust about this, but they haven't responded. I am getting frustrated and stressed, and I don't feel like I'm going anywhere because I keep getting a new support manager every two months or one month. I am not happy. As a disabled person, this angers me because I feel like I get pushed aside and forgotten about

I joined about a year ago thinking they would help me find suitable work (I have ADHD and at the time severe depression) within my first appointments they were like why arent you looking for work right now, kept trying to force stuff on me. Then my mentor (Matthew i think) left and I was left in the dark for ages, I only knew he left through my job coach at job centre. My next mentor Arisha would just go weeks without calling, and when they did call it would rarely even be within an hour of the scheduled appointment. Eventually for some reason I get put on Robinas case load and at this point I just want out after realising that nothing they have to offer is worth my time. I stop attending for a while hoping she will be like hey do you want to be here? Eventually i pick up and tell her that I want out, explain what happened and the fact that at this point i dont even want their help with the job search, she seems to understand...
I then get a notification for another appointment today which im like fine i will go to and say no i want out.
She basically ignores me after I explain i dont need her help since im in a much better place now and just want to take it at my own pace; she says I I'm not doing better as I haven't got a job. Apparently I cant leave the program until the time frame is over?? She then makes me sign something without telling me what it is, and says shes booking me an appointment with the job person. The whole process feels like trying to get out of a timeshare or worse an interrogation where the only words they will hear are ok.

DO NOT JOIN if you value your time, dignity, career or anything really.

I worked for this company. In the beginning I enjoyed working for the company and my job role. I believe my job role entailed a lot but I took it on board and really gave it my all. When things started to change and new managers came into place, everything changed. Although I always hit my targets and exceeded, it felt like it was never enough. The new manager was not very pleasant to work with. The micro managing was by far the worse ever experience I ever had. I was always consistent, delivered great work which she praised once probably. Other than that her words, attitude and the way she carried herself was demanding to myself and others. We worked really hard for her but it was never enough. I started hating my job role and going into work. Even when working from home I felt anxious because of the manager. She made you feel like you was doing your job wrong, never encouraged or was satisfied. I found her very demanding and rude. I would have loved to stay at this company for more opportunities but they do not even acknowledge your hard work or offer you anything. I really loved my job role supporting young people in education. But the manager L made it horrible for everyone by being rude, demeaning and strange.

they don't understand how hard it is to get out the house

Woodhey high school in ramsbottom has badly deteriorated since Brian Roadnight has left They’ve replaced him for a hostile headteacher !

Absolutely disgusting company that should never have been awarded the Restart scheme by the government. Here's the story of my involvement with these charlatans so far.

My first meeting was with my advisor Mel at their Birmingham office. I advised her of all of my personal details including my health problems which she logged onto my Action Plan. All well and done; Mel would be my advisor from A to Z, but no, on my second appointment I was greeted by Anna who advised me that she was now my advisor. So, I again had to repeat all of the information that I had previously relayed to Mel; obviously Anna hadn't bothered to read the notes on the previous session's Action Plan!

The next three meetings with Anna were very positive; we were building a positive understanding between us. However, on attending my next meeting in July I was greeted by Sue. I asked after Anna and was told that she had left the company and that her caseload had been shared out to all of the other advisors. Obviously, I understood this; if an employee leaves the company then they have to distribute that employee's caseload to other advisors. So, for the third time, I again had to relate to Sue my medical and past employment details; again my new advisor had failed to take the time to review my historical Action Plans therefore wasting my time with me having to explain myself a third time.

I leave the centre feeling that Sue was an advisor I could work with and looked forward to our next meeting in August; how wrong was I. I got a telephone call from somebody called Phil who informed me that he was now my advisor. What the hell? Advisor number four?

My meeting with Phil is on the 6th of September at 14:00. I'll update this review accordingly following that meeting.

Twelve years ago I also used to be an employment adviser only back then it was called the Back to Work programme, however, we never tossed clients around between advisors totally disregarding their well-being over forcing advisors to attain 'positive outcomes,' so that they were able to hit their targets in order to keep their jobs. Do they have caseloads of 90+ which I had in my day? Those unacceptable caseload levels that I was lumbered with were unattainable and that is why I resigned my position as an employment advisor.

Notice to Shaw Trust. I have emailed the Secretary of State of Work and Pensions, Mel Stride, concerning the way that your company shuffles around your clients like a pack of cards with no regard as to how this affects the relationship between client and advisor.

Supposed to help my autistic son into work.
Absolutely no help whatsoever,just an odd phone call now and again to ask how his job hunting is going….complete waste of space.

I wouldn’t say I had a great experience or help from my original case worker but joy who works at the Chatham branch was an amazing help and she certainly needs to be listened to so other colleagues can learn from her and maybe even be a trainer to other members of staff on how to treat people. Thanks again joy!

Adrian Cowley good customer service skills

The Shaw Trust is a disgraceful organisation. They were meant to be helping my daughter, who has autism, in her job search. This can be particularly stressful for autistic people. The staff aren't very understanding of people on the Austral spectrum, nor understanding of people with mental health illnesses and disabilities. This charity doesn't seem fit for purpose.

If I could give this company a zero, I would have. I went to them in the hope they could assist me to find employment. They arranged a hair cut, to trim and tidy my hair ready for potential interviews as I couldn't, at the time, afford a salon. The place they took me to, hacked my hair to pieces and left it in absolute tatters. I was devastated. I made a formal complaint and 2 members of staff made false allegations stating I had told them "I wanted my hair cut short". They also tried to fob me off with agency work when I stated no agency thanks. Simply cannot believe these people are affiliated with the Jobcentre. Absolutely awful company.

I was put with Shaw Trust twice the first time was back in 2012 which was a waste of time the second time was in 2018 where I was put on their work and health program both times I was here I was promised that they would help me into work a promise which they never fulfilled. On the work and health program I was bullied by one of the advisors who made me feel lazy and not wanting to apply for work. She made this clear by one day ringing me up and asking me if I would apply to an agency for a Sausage packers position like a dog I did what she asked but the morning after I phoned the agency and asked if the role involved being on my feet all day which they responded to as yes, I told them that I wouldn't be suitable for the role as I have mild cerebral palsy which effects my mobility because of this issue I asked to change advisors would not go with the Shaw Trust again

Overall, Shaw Trust is not a bad company/charity since it has a lot of pros and cons to it.

Pros:

1) Staff are friendly to speak to.
2) They make good effort to help you find jobs.
3) They offer CV and interview support.
4) They are encouraging with optimism.

Cons:

1) I definitely agree with other reviews that they don't care about your needs/barriers when you try speaking up about it. They cannot understand your concerns because they cannot empathise since they don't know what it is truly like to have autism, down syndrome or any other health conditions and don't know what its like to tick "yes" to disability on job applications. In other words, they only want to help you find a job even though for us participants to obtain work we need to address our barriers so when it comes to interviews we are well prepared.

2) When I have spoken up about my bad experiences in interviews, they start to tell me that apparently I'm showing attitude and being negative. Until they know what its like to fail over 20 interviews within one year alone, only then can they empathise since they've only failed a few interviews and don't know what its like to fail numerous times

3) I'm on the ipes program which stands for "intensive personalised employment support" which does not live up to the name since there's definelty nothing "personalised" about it in the slightest.

Therefore I only recommend Shaw Trust if you have a physical condition and not a neurodiverse condition since they'll be able to easily help identify your needs better.

I also recommend them to do proper research into all the different health conditions since it is part and parcel of their job to not brush it under the carpet and pretend that autism and other conditions don't exist. By doing this I can guarantee there will be no more 1 star reviews if they can take the time to thoroughly research.

Besides that I still don't regret joining Shaw Trust since there are certainly positives about them, I'm just telling them how they can improve since I'm not complaining, I'm just telling my honest opinion about them since I believe this is a fair and balanced review and not every company/charity is perfect.

Like most restart program thy all words and empty. Was promise help with counselling due to mental health issues. All I got was a link to your website. Thy said thy will help to cover cost of suit and trousers for interview did not happen. Thy also said help with tech to help job hunting did not happen. Thy retraining is sit in a room watch slides and thar retracing. Inform jobcentre thy were not surprised too it all a con.

this hole organisation seems to be incompetent! on my second advisor cos they the 1st one was a joke i made a complaint yesterday the woman on the phone took the details down completely wrong! and from day 1 i didn't want me email address to be used via this company so they couldn't just spam rubbish at me witch they've done i aloud my adviser to use my email address to send me some courses he didn't look in to any details just sent a load I found 1 of use to then be told we might not be bale to fund that because of cost why send it to me in the first place! and i said that all contact about my compliant was to be done via phone call and i receive an email this morning as far as I'm concerned this is a data breach my email address is not meant to be on your system i never gave consent of this! as sated my email address was given for 1 reason and i stated was not to be stored or used by anyone else in the company so what is your explanation!

The person I had was amazing Martin he was with me every step of the way but things took a turn for the worse. Unfortunately I lost contact with my pa. As he got moved to a different area. I could be able to meet my new pa but never happened only to find out 6 months later after I've missed 12 appointments not my fault the system never told me any up coming appointments nothing not even a phone call nothing. I had to email the new pa to find out the office in chatham went in Liquidation. Great and I was kicked off the course. And I'm in work with no support. Very upset and disappointed.

Having had a LOT of experience with Jobcentre training programmes over the years I'd say Shaw Trust is typical. But, until recently, having had a less than positive attitude towards such schemes, I didn't benefit much from them.

A year or so ago the DWP sent me on one course, then another, both with Shaw Trust. I'd had a change of circumstances - and attitude - by this time. So I complied, made an effort, got a job and I'm pretty happy about it. The advisers were mostly helpful and enthusiastic, and Shaw Trust made me a great CV, helped me get a few certificates, got me the job lead and gave me £100 for work clothes. So well done for that.

On the minus side I see instances from other reviews about the admin being sometimes a bit dodgy or unprofessional. This is par for the course with these things, and I found myself having to make a few complaints and threats, one in particular regarding a breach of my data rights because I was marked down as missing a session, which I technically didn't. These types of people frequently err on the side of getting you into trouble with the DWP, so you have to make sure you know when to push back firmly and assert your rights. In this instance the admin needed threats of legal action before they removed incorrect data from my record. They had initially refused, stating that an accurate record needed to be sent to the DWP - but it wasn't accurate - it was simply what their system indicated - and it was wrong and legally actionable, more so if they had passed on this incorrect data.

Overall I'd say Shaw trust was brilliant. I won't deduct points for poor admin as I enjoy putting incompetent professionals in their place.