Kenny Waste Management Social Enterprise Ltd.
Our Turning Points signature programme for Driving Change is designed to enhance long-term employment prospects for individuals with challenging circumstances and past backgrounds which may be holding them back from future employment.
Turning Points is all about facilitating work placements and experience, job shadowing, and job trials. It is one of our social enterprise’s three signature programmes, which strategically address some of the biggest barriers to employment.
The key outcomes for Turning Points participants are improved confidence and motivation, increased job readiness, and employability. We identified the need to attract new talent from diverse backgrounds to the construction and waste management sectors, and we built our activity around our vision that all workplaces will be truly inclusive and create bright futures for all.
We strive to make an impact by making career pathways more accessible, increasing retention, and raising aspirations. To achieve this and overcome the complex social challenges our communities face, we draw on the experience and expertise of our partner organisations.
“Partnerships are a driving force behind our programmes; cross-sector cooperation with other organisations translates into many successful outcomes and helps to make our work even more impactful.”
– Alex Mayes, Director at Kenny Waste Management Social Enterprise
Thanks to our charity partnership with Salford Foundation, we have been enabled to offer our Turning Points cohort a full day dedicated to developing their employability skills, such as learning to identify and communicate their own strengths.
Working in collaboration with Frameworks Training, participants received two full days training and tailored support to achieve their CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) card.
Wates Group, one of our valued customers, kindly gave Turning Points participants an engaging, in-depth site tour of one of their new construction projects. Our participants gained a real sense of the early stages of the build and had the chance to interact with Wates employees in various roles.
Eric Wright Group, another of our valued customers, offered Turning Points participants valuable experience and orientation on two very different construction sites. One of these sites was in the bustling city centre of Manchester and the other was nearby in an area of Salford. These events helped to demonstrate the wide variety of job roles and opportunities to our participants.
Our recent participants really made an impression on us. Their stories demonstrate that our work programme, which combines work shadowing, construction site visits, and training, is having the desired outcome. We sat down with a few of them and asked them to share their experience.
We spoke to Natalie, one of our participants this Summer who truly stepped up during the programme and was eager to take on new responsibilities. Natalie found her experience eye-opening and expressed her appreciation for the complexity of site operations at our parent company, Kenny Waste Management. All essential training was delivered in the first week, enabling participants like Natalie to get straight to the point and gain real, first-hand experience.
What did you enjoy the most?
“Working at the facility opened my eyes on the journey of the waste, and everything that goes into keeping waste away from landfill. I enjoyed being a part of that.”
What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned on the programme?
“It was the Health and Safety training in the first week. Later on, I was actually using a ladder at home, and I remembered my Working at Height training with Frameworks Training. I found it all very helpful, all the images and everything to explain why health and safety is so important. It really had an impact on me.”
What has been your biggest obstacle to finding meaningful employment?
“Trying to find somewhere accepting of my criminal record.”
What are you especially proud of achieving?
“Working as part of a team, connecting with other people, and doing brand new things.”
What advice would you give to someone re-entering work?
“Take everything in and just go for it. It’s opened my eyes massively.”
We are very pleased to share that Natalie has since joined the team at Wates Group. Wates is a valued customer of our social enterprise and likewise committed to delivering social value by developing employability skills. They are pleased with Natalie’s progress, and shared their appreciation for programmes like Turning Points:
“It was great to be part of The Turning Points programme delivered by Kenny Waste Management’s social enterprise this summer. They demonstrate a well-defined path to skill up the UK’s workforce, addressing urgent skills shortages in the construction and waste management industries. At the same time, they are tackling some of the biggest barriers to employment for those who face disadvantages. We gave the participants an opening tour of a live construction site, and at the end of the programme recruited Natalie as part of our site team. Natalie is a real asset and a credit to the training and experience she has received. We look forward to our continued collaboration with Kenny Waste Management Social Enterprise to deliver on our shared social value commitments.”
– Jamie Bawden, Project Manager at Wates Construction North West
Another of our participants, Josh, has decided to join our parent company, Kenny Waste Management, as a member of their transport team. We created a role specifically for him because we understand his strengths and believe in his potential. Josh was highly engaged throughout the programme, and kindly set time aside to answer a few questions:
How did you find out about the programme?
“Through my job coach. I met Alex Mayes at a job swap event run by Wates, which I later found out is part of their community work around the Star Academy Build.”
What achievement was most memorable?
“I’ve been able to genuinely help our van drivers. I need to work in a role where I’m helpful, otherwise I’d get bored and feel aimless.”
What have you discovered?
“That the point in work experience is to meet the people, not just to see what construction sites look like. That’s what helped me open up my perspective.”
What do you bring to the team?
“I would say I’m the glue that makes sure everyone is on the same page.”
What do you need from others so that you can perform best?
“Clear instructions. Kenny Waste Management Social Enterprise are much better for that than most places I have worked at. I know the work I have to do, and I enjoy the challenge.”
What do you need to unlock even more potential?
“Definitely my driving license. I will be pursuing this after the course.”
What advice would you give to someone re-entering work?
“Don’t narrow things down. Keep your options open. Don’t be afraid of change. You might be surprised by what you are capable of and the skills you already have.”
We’d like to say a huge thank you to Josh and Natalie for sharing their experiences. We are committed to continue working alongside specialist agencies and charities, such as Frameworks Training and Salford Foundation, taking a people-centred approach to the social value we deliver.
Our activities would not have been as successful without the backing of our customers, including Wates Group and Eric Wright Group. Thank you all for your invaluable support.
If your organisation would like to get involved with one of our programmes, please contact our Social Enterprise Manager, Alex Mayes, by emailing:
