Latest news from º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ

17 Jun 2015

Success for º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ employment placement scheme

Matt Kelly on placement at Towers Hall

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is working with local charity The Exaireo Trust to provide unemployed people with work placements on campus.

The Exaireo Trust is a local charity that helps homeless people rehabilitate by providing them with accommodation, education, skills, advice and support.

As part of their Ethos Project, they run a scheme to help people find their feet by getting them back into work. The University has supported this over the past two years and have provided a number of opportunities on campus. Matt Kelly is currently on placement at a catered hall of residence.

Matt is working at Towers Hall on campus in the kitchenette where he prepares anything from cooked breakfasts to tasty desserts for students, conferences and even for sports teams.

Following previous experience working at a cafe in Devon, Matt was keen to pursue a career in the catering field again.

He is now nearing the end of his seven week placement and hopes to secure a full time job in catering.

Matt said: “I love my job and I’m really grateful to have been given the opportunity. Every day, I can’t wait to get there and quite often I’ll just go into work an hour early because that’s where I’d rather be.

“Everyone at the University was really welcoming from the minute I started and I’m pleased I’m back into work.”

Simon Willet, who works at The Exaireo Trust, said: “We’re delighted with how the placements at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ have worked, they’ve all been a success with a great level of commitment on both sides.

“It’s fantastic to be working with the University, they genuinely want to see people move forward and progress. Hearing that Matt can’t wait to get to work every day is exactly the kind of response we hope to get from this scheme and we’re grateful to º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ for supporting us.”  

Another member of the Exaireo Trust who completed a placement with the University’s Garden and Grounds Team also went on to secure a full time job with the University last year.  

Organiser of the placement scheme this year, Sarah Haar, said: “We’re delighted that the University has built up such a strong relationship with The Exaireo Trust and have managed to provide some really successful placements for people looking to get back into work. Moving forward, we’d love to be able to provide work placements for even more people across different departments.”

Notes for editors

Article reference number: 15/116

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world, and was named University of the Year in the What Uni Student Choice Awards 2015.º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. It was 2nd in the 2015 THE Student Experience Survey and was named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

In 2015 the University will open an additional academic campus in London’s new innovation quarter. º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ London, based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will offer postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.

The Exaireo Trust was formed to help homeless people to rehabilitate themselves by providing accommodation, education, skills training, advice, support and practical work experience. The Trust currently provides accommodation in seven houses in º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ and two in Coalville and has helped more than fifty residents in the three years since opening.

Contact for all media enquiries

Kiran Beri 

Communications and Public Engagement Officer 
º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ
T: 01509 222442
E: K.Beri@lboro.ac.uk