As we edge closer to Christmas and the festive excitement begins, we reflect back on a busy November at the Wise Group. From events to impactful customer stories, hear from some of our colleagues on what their highlights have been this past month!
One of our Relational Mentoring colleagues shares a hugely positive story, which was also shared to help colleagues facing similar scenarios help their own customers. Our colleague shares,
“In November my customer had a great breakthrough in his current situation. His visa allowed him to work in the UK but granted him no recourse to public funds (NRPF), for example, universal credit. Unfortunately, earlier this year he was attacked and lost sight in one of his eyes, rendering him unemployed and with zero income. He reached out to the Home Office in order to change his NRPF status, but this was rejected. For 6 months customer was officially with zero income, living on charity. However, an appeal regarding visa status was launched. I liaised with the customer’s lawyer and wrote a letter explaining the hardships the customer was facing, we also collected further medical evidence. As a result of this the appeal was successful and his visa status changed. Customer now has access to funds that will allow him to have an easier life while he receives further treatment, and breathing space that will allow him to start building a new life and return to work in a new trade.”
An amazing story, that shows even when things feel tough and with no breakthrough available, help exists, and support is out there!
In our HEAT team some of our new colleagues have celebrated achieving their City and Guilds, Energy Awareness qualifications! One colleague stated, “The training gave us information so we can provide better help to our customers. I think it was nice to see that each of us had different strengths throughout the training, but we all passed”! What a fantastic achievement. We cannot wait to see how many people our mentors can make a positive impact on with this training!
HES have also had a really busy month! HES and HEAT joined forces for this years #FuelPovertyAwarenessDay, and collaborated on some social media content for the Wise Group, reaching out to those who needed support. These clips and posts are available on all our social media channels!
In Wise Community mentoring one of our colleagues shares that,
“The highlight for me this November has to be some of the great work that has gone in to from getting people together, to support with customer volunteering days, creating internal partnerships and opportunities for our customers, providing support with Warm Home Discount applications and much more, but the thing that stands out the most for me, has been working with a young adult who recently left care and supporting them with creating a CV, providing interview clothes, coaching them with interview skills and preparation and then watching them succeed to take on employment”.
In our justice teams, there has also been some real highlights! Our Engaging People on Probation team have had a really engaging and positive time at some internal My Contribution sessions, being able to set some positive goals for the future!
Lastly, an absolutely lovely update from one of our new (but not really) colleagues was shared. “My November highlight has definitely been rejoining The Wise Group 😊 After working on JETS for a year and a half, I left to join a different company last year. Being away from The Wise Group made me so acutely aware of the importance of a customer- and colleague-centered approach and making a difference. I missed The Wise Group and its culture of kindness. So I was delighted to come back as a HEAT Mentor earlier this month. It has been great seeing some familiar faces and making friends with others. Everyone has made me feel so welcome, and I feel very privileged to be part of such a fantastic team who are working hard to support vulnerable people. Christmas has definitely come early for me!”
