Picture Courtesy of Homeless Link

New GROW Traineeship based at akt in Manchester!

Shelter is looking for a new GROW Trainee to be based at the LGBTQ+ youth charity akt. We’re looking for people with lived experience of multiple disadvantage (including but not limited to; homelessness, the criminal justice system, mental ill-health and substance misuse), who are passionate about using their own experiences to help make positive change for others.

The GROW Traineeship programmes has been running since 2014, initially as part of Inspiring Change Manchester and has since been expanding to cities around the country at Shelter. This Traineeship is delivered in partnership with and is on placement at akt, who support LGBTQ+ young people (16-25) who are homeless or living in a hostile environment. However, our new GROW Trainee will continue to be supported by our GROW Development Officer at ICM, and will be able to play a key role in helping us shape our services and influence change across Manchester.

On this placement at akt, there will support and guidance from the Senior Caseworker, to help our new GROW learn how to identify young people’s support needs. There will also be training on how to develop and implement a plan together and assist with signposting young people to access specialist support.

With so many years of running GROW Traineeships at ICM, we know that applying for the role in the first place can be a bit of a leap of faith. So, we wanted to encourage anyone thinking of applying to just go for it! But who better to hear from than one of our current GROWs – Stan:

“I have been a GROW trainee for 5 months now and can honestly say that even though most of my training has been remote working, it has been an experience not to be missed.

The support around GROWS is second to none, straight away you feel part of the team, no-one judges you, everyone looks at your strengths which in turn promotes self- worth and confidence. There is no such thing has a daft question, if you don’t know something you don’t know and that’s ok.

As part of the team you learn to rely on and support each other which makes things easier. Everyone is supported to learn at their own pace and in a way that suits their learning style. Being a GROW has given me an insight into the real world of work, it has made me feel capable of achieving so much more and given me the appetite to carry on learning and get where I want to be.

So, anyone thinking of becoming a GROW take the plunge, dive in headfirst and benefit from this unique opportunity to become a better version of yourself.”

We’re holding x2 more application support sessions over zoom to help provide more information about GROW Traineeships and how to apply. So please feel free to pop along if you’re thinking about applying:

Thursday 22nd April – 3 – 4.30pm –  https://zoom.us/j/92110856936?pwd=VEt1Vkp3QlJ0NFh2azA0STRaTGJyUT09

Monday 26th April – 10 – 11.30am – https://zoom.us/j/92661558386?pwd=a0tNQm94a1dVenM0NWRJMCs1K1hpQT09

The deadline is 11.30pm on Monday 3rd May, please follow this link for full details – http://shltr.org.uk/it2

You can see what previous Grow trainees thought of their time with ICM (Shelter GROW

trainees in Manchester) here:

All applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability or age. We particularly encourage applications from Black and POC backgrounds, trans identities and disability groups, who are currently under-represented within AKT. We are happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments individuals may require in the recruitment process, on commencement, or once in post.

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