TNG helps Birkenhead man off benefits and inspires him to help others

Two years ago, Gordon Kirkbride, 36, from Birkenhead, was unemployed and living on benefits. Today, he is Project Supervisor for TNG, a national welfare to work organisation, helping unemployed people in the community gain the skills to get back into work in Birkenhead.

After becoming unemployed from his job as a Project Supervisor, Gordon searched for work but to no avail. He didn’t want to waste the skills he had, and wanted to keep practicing them. He was also determined to keep a routine, so enrolled on the Intensive Activity Period (IAP) course run by TNG in Birkenhead.

While there, Gordon was put on a placement based at the Bebington Road Allotments, where he took part in activities including clearing plots of rubbish, de-weeding, removing brambles, fixing broken fences and helping pensioners tend to their allotments. Gordon enjoyed the work so much that when a vacancy arose for Project Supervisor at TNG, he jumped at the chance to apply.

Encouraged to go for the position by his Project Supervisor, Billy Blinkthorn, Gordon’s passion shone through at his interview, and he was offered the position. Since then, he has helped over 500 people gain the skills they need to move into employment while supervising at Bebington Road. Over the last three years, jobseekers on TNG programmes have helped to turn what was an overgrown, unusable site into a pleasant set of plots in peak condition to be used as allotments for the local community.

However, the time came when TNG had done all it could do at Bebington Road, and in February, moved to Sumner Road Allotments. With a fresh challenge, Gordon is excited about the prospect of helping people move into employment.

"When I first came to TNG, I was worried I'd be cooped up in an office, or sitting behind a computer learning skills, so the allotments were a breath of fresh air- literally. I felt that I was really making a difference, and after each day on the allotment, I could see what I'd achieved, and I felt proud. Pride in a day's graft was something I’d missed while being out of work.

"Since joining TNG as Project Supervisor two years ago, I get that sense of pride every day. I can really understand the challenges that our customers face, because a couple of years ago, that was me. I know how demotivating it can be when you're unemployed, and how much it hurts when you keep applying for jobs, but don’t hear anything back. The work that we do at Sumner Road Allotments is invaluable for motivation, and for learning and keeping new skills."