Employment and Training Boost for South West Edinburgh 

Space at The Broomhouse Hub appoints a new Employability Manager to oversee projects which help people into paid work

Broomhouse and the surrounding areas will be getting a boost in training opportunities as Joyce Juma-Phiri is appointed the new Employability Manager at community development charity Space at the Broomhouse Hub. This role will oversee the development of two Training Academy projects, dedicated to supporting people into volunteer opportunities, work placements, and paid employment.

A Broomie at heart, Joyce has always been committed to supporting the local community and was previously involved with The Broomhouse Empowerment project, which inspired the development of the play area and green space on Broomhouse Grove. 

Joyce comes to Space at The Broomhouse Hub armed with a wealth of knowledge on employability and how people are affected by a lack of access to job opportunities. Her previous work includes an 8-year project at Four Square, working as a practitioner and heading up employability programmes for young people aged 16 – 25.  

Joyce’s new role focuses on overseeing two of Space’s Training Academy projects, Pick ‘n’ Mix to Employment and Space Station: Catering & Hospitality.

Complementing the Space team, Joyce is passionate about helping people into employment and explained some key areas that are crucial to making this happen: 

“The first is to maintain our person-centered approach to support – allowing people to take charge of their progress while staff walk alongside them on their way to employment. This includes developing a 1-to-1 support service for our project members, allowing those who do not thrive in group settings to explore their employability skills at a pace that suits them. 

“It’s important to let people identify their journey. A lot of the time, we focus too much on the negatives and not the positives of our circumstances. We are actively looking to work with more people, school leavers and those of any age looking to get into work over the coming year. We are also keen to hear from any employers who might be able to offer talks, placements or other support to people who are looking to get into work.” 

The Pick ‘n’ Mix to Employment programme runs regularly throughout the year, and Space are keen to hear from anyone who might be interested in taking part.

Backed by a Young Start grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, the project runs three group activities each week – a wellbeing workshop on Tuesdays, job taster sessions on Thursdays, and an employability skills session on Fridays. The project name – Pick ‘n’ Mix – comes from a flexibility for each individual to pick and choose the sessions that suit their needs. 

Each block is eight weeks long, and 100% of the young people that took part in the latest group said that it had massively increased their sense of wellbeing. The Space Training Academy has supported many young people into further opportunities, such as paid employment, work placements, and further training courses.

If you are looking to kick start a career or get back in to employment, or want to support our work, contact joyce.juma-phiri@spacescot.org or phone 0131 455 7731. You can find out more about other projects on the Space website, https://www.spacescot.org/.