News: Rotherham employee in running for national award

Gary Fuller, a care assistant at a Rotherham care home has made it onto the shortlist for the first annual Local Employment Partnerships (LEP) Awards organised by the Department of Work and Pensions. Gary has benefitted from Rotherham based Exemplar Healthcare's partnership with local Jobcentres to work together to help long term benefit claimants into work. As a single parent, Gary had been on benefits for about eight or nine years but through his employment has seen his confidence and self esteem grow and he is now nominated in the Individual award for outstanding achievement in learning and training catergory. Lonnen Grove's Keeley Rowley said: "As soon as Gary started at Lonnen Grove it was evident he was going to be a real asset to us. He’s a very calm and consistent person. And if we hadn’t got this Local Employment Partnership, maybe his potential would have been undiscovered." Exemplar has gained national recognition for the LEP in The Telegraph with co-founder Julie Quarrington discussing the positive impact on the business. Exemplar has employed over 40 care assistants, in catering and maintenance during the past year and has another 20 on training courses that started this month. The company has hired 80% of the individuals who have completed it. Julie told the paper "Anybody that needs to recruit staff should certainly look at it. The way that we have been helped and supported through the process, any employer that does not give it a chance needs to think again. It really is so helpful."
LEP website
The Telegraph article
Rotherham