Burnt Oak residents are about to get an employment BOOST with the help of a new pilot project.

The new project called BOOST, (Burnt Oak Opportunity Support Team), launches this Saturday, 25 July at its base in Burnt Oak library.  The project is part of the West London Alliance (WLA) ‘Working People, ‘Working Places’ programme where a similar local pilot is run in St Raphael’s estate in Brent.

The aim of the project is to support people to find work, access a wide range of support in their local community as well as increase the prosperity of the area.

A multi-agency team is based on the ground floor of Burnt Oak Library with staff from Jobcentre Plus, Barnet Homes, Barnet Council’s Benefits Service and Education and Skills team. Their key community partner, Love Burnt Oak, will also support the team’s work.

BOOST offers a real opportunity for Burnt Oak residents to overcome any obstacles they find in their way that might prevent people from finding long term employment. The project does this through providing advice on job searching, housing, benefits, well-being, childcare and skills as well as signposting people to opportunities to become more involved with their wider community such as volunteering.

Residents played their part in creating the BOOST project by helping to develop the approach over the past 12 months through focus groups, workshops and forums as well as providing feedback on some of the barriers they faced in getting back to work. These barriers included childcare, access to IT and confidence boosting support.

Troy Henshall, Barnet Homes’ Interim Chief Executive Officer, said: “Three years ago through Barnet Homes’ engagement in the community of Burnt Oak we were able to get the residents behind the Love Burnt Oak campaign, which became an official charity last December. This meant it could receive more funding from Barnet Council for health and well-being and also to support BOOST.  BOOST is another innovative example of Barnet Homes working with key partners, such as the council, to deliver the right outcomes for the people of Burnt Oak.”