After six successful years supporting over 2,000 to overcome challenges to employment and move them closer towards or into work, the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Project officially finished in December 2022.
This programme reconnected people with their local services through their communities and ultimately helped them to achieve their desired outcome, whether through a working or educational related route.
Through a unique partnership of over 30 community based organisations, GEM supported over 800 people into employment and 400 people into education across the last six years.
The GEM Project was jointly funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and the European Social Fund from 2016 until 2022.
The GEM Project was managed by Gloucestershire Gateway Trust on behalf of the lead organisation Gloucestershire County Council.
The GEM Project timeline
The GEM Project began in 2016 and was originally due to run for three years, but after being recognised as an Exemplar Project which was consistently over-achieving its targets, the project was extended twice and even continued to run through GEM Online during the pandemic, eventually coming to an end in 2022.
The GEM Project impact
As the GEM Project came to a close, we asked participants, employers, stakeholders and members of the team to reflect on the project and to sum it up in three words. Watch our short film to see what people had to say.
The impact of the GEM Project was also monitored and evaluated annually by the University of Gloucestershire, and you can download the final report here:
Inclusivity Works: the GEM Project legacy
As well as working with participants though the project’s network of Navigator Developers, the GEM Project also worked closely with employers across Gloucestershire to source employment opportunities and to support them to be inclusive.
In 2017 the first group of Exemplar Employers were recognised for their support of GEM Project participants, including offering employment opportunities including work experience, work placements and in some cases, job roles.
In 2021, the GEM Project launched Inclusivity Works, which not only recognised inclusive employers, but provided access to support for those employers including access to GEM Project in-house experts and regular ‘lunch and learn’ webinars on topics including neurodiversity, mental health at work, recruiting refugees, LGBTQ+ and allyship awareness, employing ex-offenders, and creating accessible and healthy workplaces.
The GEM Project also hosted the first Inclusive Jobs Fair in Gloucestershire, bringing together local employers with real job opportunities for GEM Project participants.
By the close of the GEM Project, a network of over 40 Inclusive Employers in Gloucestershire had been created, and over 25 had received the Inclusivity Works Gloucestershire Inclusive Employer Award.
The Inclusivity Works initiative was handed over to the Gloucestershire Employment and Skills Hub and can now be accessed here: About us | Inclusivity Works