Hybrid working: how we opened the offices

Why Voice is Important

One of the 3 strategic goals of Better Connect is to Inspire Change. This involves promoting social inclusion as an essential part of creating vibrant, productive and prosperous communities.  

We aim to inspire change in 3 ways: 

  • Sharing participants stories – Through our projects, our partners have supported thousands of participants. We know that behind these big numbers, each person has their own individual story of how they have been supported to transform their lives. We are delighted that some of these people have chosen to share their stories with us. And now, we get to share those stories with you.  
  • Thinkpieces and blogs – Our staff and partners have a huge amount of knowledge on lots of issues regarding inclusion, diversity, wellbeing and employment. Some of this comes from their work and education and much of it comes from lived experience. We create and share blogs and thinkpieces written by our staff and partners to raise awareness and contribute positively to the conversation about these key issues.  
  • Representation – We are honoured to represent social inclusion issues and the voluntary and community sector in multiagency groups and policy formation. We do this by listening to our partners and participants and using our platforms to amplify their voices and perspectives. We connect policy makers with people on the ground to ensure that policies and funding have the greatest positive impact in communities.  

Hybrid working: how we opened the offices

Blog news item



  Reopening the office?  Returning to the office?  Getting back to normal? Whichever term you prefer, figuring out how your organisation will work now that we’re allowed back into offices can seem a daunting task.  If you are still wary of how you might reopen your office, perhaps our story can lend you some confidence.

Young People Feedback on the Kickstart Programme

Blog Kickstart news item



  “It’s the best job I’ve ever had!”, “I’m loving it!” was just some of the amazingly positive feedback we have received from Kickstart young people about their current placements. As the Kickstart Assistant at Better Connect one of my first tasks was to introduce myself to all the young people that were currently in

“The work I’m doing on Kickstart is helping me feel confident in myself and my own decisions which is changing me for the better”

Blog Careers Kickstart Meet the Team news item



I never thought I would be involved in Kickstart; however, it has taken over my life in the best way! At the start of the pandemic, I had to come home to finish of my degree online following this time I found myself on universal credit and working a low hour’s part time job. This

“When I started on my Kickstart placement, I wasn’t expecting the support I have received, it has been amazing!”

Blog Careers Kickstart Meet the Team news item



The last 18 months have been different for everyone. People have lost their jobs, had mental health challenges, and being stuck in all-round hard situations! There has been some good that has come from this time too. My story began before the pandemic. For three years I worked in a retail job part time while

Interview Top Tips for Kickstarters

Blog Careers Kickstart news item



    The truth is all employers will be looking for something different when they are interviewing candidates for a job. It depends on many factors such as the job role itself, our own personal preferences, the ‘idea’ of the sort of person we may want, the organisations values and many many more things! Now

Stress Busting Strategies

Blog Mental Health news item Wellbeing Resources



  We all know the feeling of stress at work now and then. I absolutely love my job, but I’m no stranger to the pressure you can feel when there’s deadlines looming and just not quite enough hours in the day to check every last email… That being said, I’ve found it’s really important to

New Staff at Better Connect

Blog Careers news item



Did you know when you hit 17 zoom boxes on zoom the image quality drops? Well, we found that out over the past few weeks as our lovely staff team has recently grown! It has been such an exciting time for new staff members to join us at Better Connect! We are very excited to

Introducing Better Connect

Blog news item



  This is our first video for our new channel  – Better Connect. It features our Chief Officer  – Sam Alexander – and gives a brief welcome and  outlines some of the exciting changes Transcript of video: Introducing Better Connect   Hi, I’m Sam Alexander and as the CEO of Better Connect, it’s my great pleasure to tell

Young Carers Day – Tuesday the 16th March 2021

Blog Carers Plus



Each year Carers Trust organises Young Carers Awareness Day. The purpose of the day is to raise public awareness of the challenges faced by young people because of their caring role, and to campaign for greater support for young carers and their needs.   There are a number of our delivery partners who support young

Hello, and happy LGBT+ History Month!

Blog LGBT+



I’ve got the honour of sharing a bit of modern queer history and also talking a little about where we’ve got to today. There is a long and important history of the struggles the queer community have faced and fought over decades past. In New York, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, which was one

International Day of Persons with Disability – 3rd December 2020

Blog Disability Purple Patch



Thursday 3 December is the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD). Introduced in 1992, the IDPD aims to promote the rights and well-being of disabled people across society. This year’s theme is ‘Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World’. We hope you’re able to take part. We want

Wellbeing at Work – Joe’s Story

Blog Mental Health Wellbeing Resources



We’ve been focusing on mental health and wellbeing this week after celebrating World Mental Health Day last weekend. Joe works for us as ATI Programmes Co-ordinator and had some thoughts about the importance of appropriate policies at work and the impact on staff wellbeing. “Working at Better Connect, it feels like our wellbeing is genuinely