A woman who found herself at a crossroads when she was unexpectedly made redundant pledged to help young people who were "left behind".
Claire Cook was a single mum of a newborn baby and young daughter when she was made redundant ten years ago but decided to make a change. Faced with a recession and thousands of families struggling, the Speke mum used her experience to help young children with their education and employment opportunities.
Employability Solutions was born soon after and it has since gone from strength to strength as they help young people out of poverty and over their barriers through education. Employability Solutions is a registered independent school that provides an alternative secondary education for young people who thrive in a more nurturing environment compared with mainstream school.
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Claire, who founded the social enterprise alongside friend Nadia Miller, told the ECHO: "When I first started, I found young people were doing things to make money that put themselves at risk and I wanted to show you could make the same money legitimately.
"Exploitation was high, kids were affiliated with gangs and they were struggling to find opportunities outside the community."
Now, the independent school will be opening a second provision in Garston as part of a £250,000 investment, meaning a further 60 students across the region can be supported. The new site will be the organisation’s third independent school, with another school based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Aiming to challenge misconception, Claire added: "It's gone from strength to strength, we are building an interest around the kids. There's a pressure on mainstream schools that can't meet the diverse needs of young people.
"We have more of an understanding of their circumstances, whether they have trauma or their social experience or additional needs. A few years ago they would be branded as naughty kids but there's more understanding now.
"But there needs to be more. I'm one of those kids, I grew up in a single parent family from Speke so I run the business in the way of what I needed when I was a teenager."
Over the years, the social enterprise has worked with a variety of young people from different backgrounds who were previously "forgotten". One teenager was the first in the country to be criminalised with an anti-social behaviour order before receiving help from Claire.
She added: "We worked with him and listened to him and found out he was a young carer which made him tired and irritable and he didn't have enough change when getting the bus to school that morning. He received an asbo title but underneath was just a struggling young carer.
"He didn't get help from a mainstream school, got excluded and we picked him up. He's got his own family now and is in the civil service."
The new school, a specialist in trauma-informed practice, will have mental health specialists onsite to support those most in need of a therapeutic approach, and will also deliver a physical, creative and practical curriculum, with students also set to benefit from access to leisure facilities and open green spaces.
As part of its 10th year celebrations, Employability Solutions recently launched the ‘Platform for Change Legacy Fund’. The community fund has been set up in remembrance of three young men - Brandon Regan, 17, Daniel Jamieson, 16, and Jamie Buckley, 18. Brandon and Daniel were both victims of knife crime and Jamie tragically drowned.
With the full support of their parents, the new fund will award three grants of up to £1,000 each year to a young person, who will promote the education, safety and mental health of their peers within their local communities.
Claire said: "I'm very proud of what we've achieved. I didn't wake up one morning and think I'll set up a ten year old business but our main core principles I've never strayed from. My nan brought me up and a lot of what I pass on is based on her advice rather than the Harvard business school, it's just a Liverpool nan's advice, be kind, inclusive and clever with your money.
"I think on the most part it's a lack of understanding and awareness, a lot of young people are misunderstood, they aren't mad or bad, they just need to be listened to."
For more information about Employability Solutions, visit the website, and on social media - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Over the last ten years, Employability Solutions has provided over 76,000 hot and healthy meals, delivered over 8,000 qualifications and over £187,980 reinvested into opportunities to improve the life and social skills need for independent living.
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