Annual Awards for Achievement 2008

Community Partner of the Year Award 2008

Winner - Aston Healthcare

Aston Healthcare has won an award for achievement for helping the long-term unemployed get back into work.

This forward-thinking health practice has won an award from national employment charity Tomorrow's People in its annual Awards for Achievement. The awards pay tribute to people who have overcome significant barriers in their quest to get back to work and to partner organisations that deserve special recognition for their support.

A representative from the Practice attended the awards at Plaisterers' Hall, London, on Wednesday 12th November. The organisation has been chosen as Community Partner of the Year, which is awarded to community groups which have helped further the work of Tomorrow's People.

Aston Healthcare has been working with Tomorrow's People since 2006 and is a progressive provider of primary healthcares services, with seven GP Practices in the Borough of Knowsley. When Tomorrow's People brought its innovative GP Employment Adviser service to Merseyside, Aston Healthcare was first to engage with the charity and to make space for its staff to support their long-term sick patients back into employment.

Patients who are out of work for health reasons and who would like help to get back into work, are able to make an appointment with the Tomorrow's People Employment Adviser at their practices. Appointments are usually weekly and there is no restriction on length of time patients can use the service, which is free to users.

Specialist support includes confidence-building, strategies to overcome particular barriers to work, interview techniques, CV writing advice, training opportunities, work placements and in-work aftercare. A number of other GP surgeries in Knowsley have now followed suit, and Tomorrow's People now offers this outreach service in over 12 locations in the Borough.

The impact of getting long-term sick patients back to work cannot be underestimated. When patients who previously have been unable to work, find a job that meets their needs, it improves their health and well-being and enables them to move forwards in their lives.

With over 15,000 people in the area claiming Incapacity Benefit - one of the highest numbers in any borough in England -, the partnership between Aston Healthcare and Tomorrow's People makes good business sense. Councillor Graham Morgan, Knowsley Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Neighbourhoods commented, "Knowsley Council is continuously working to improve and reduce unemployment through new, creative initiatives, such as Fresh Start and Knowsley Works, and now this pioneering Tomorrow's People project which works alongside our colleagues in health�� this project is a fantastic opportunity to help Knowsely residents get back into work, education or training."

"There has been an outstandingly positive response from all at Aston Healthcare", Dr Jim Heath, Aston Healthcare Managing Director commented. "Aston Healthcare has been working alongside Tomorrow's People for over two years, during that time we have seen the tangible benefits to patients who are long-term unemployed and in need of this type of one-to-one support and encouragement. A partnership approach like the one we have developed with Tomorrow's People is the way forward to improve the health, wellbeing and quality of life for individual patients. This is a fantastic example of organisations from different sectors working together to achieve real and life-changing results."

Runner Up - Hastings & Bexhill Wood Recycling Project

Read their story here.