In August 2017, Joe, who had been homeless and unemployed for over a decade, made his first step towards changing his life and joined Beam – a social impact business which uses crowdfunding to help homeless people train up and get into work.
Joe had worked in construction previously, but needed an additional qualification to get the career job he wanted. So, with an online campaign, he raised £1,132 from 19 supporters in just 5 days to fund slinger signaller training and the equipment he would need.
Joe in training
Today, with the help of Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) and our specialist job brokerage BuildLondon, Joe is working in his first job since 2003 for one of the largest construction labour suppliers, VGC Group, on the Northern Line extension in London.
Chris Dransfield, Programme Director of BuildLondon, commented:
“We’re delighted to have played a part in supporting Joe into work with one of our contractor partners, VGC. Our aim at BuildLondon, in partnership with the DWP and construction companies, is to improve the visibility of and access to, jobs and training opportunities on major construction projects across the Capital. Collaboration with innovative organisations such as BEAM is critical to improving the success of what we do, and we look forward to supporting more BEAM members into careers in the construction sector”
Joe in site office
To find out more about our work in the construction sector contact Ethos Skills