A 21-year-old young woman from Carlisle has thanked a local training provider for helping her to rebuild her confidence and gain new qualifications to help her start a new job.
Georgie Hanks, who lives in King Moor, originally left school with few qualifications and low confidence, but is working with PHX Training in Carlisle to complete additional skills courses to support her teaching assistant training and growing ironing business.
Georgie, who was signposted to the PHX Training centre on Victoria Place by Carlisle College, is physically disabled, blind in one eye and requires a mobility scooter to get around.
While her disability doesn’t affect Georgie’s learning ability, skills or aptitude, it is shown that people living with a disability are a third less likely to be employed than people without disabilities. The disability employment rate in the North West is lower than the average for the rest of England.
With support from tutors at PHX Training, Georgie has now completed her Entry Level 3 Functional Skills course, along with Level 1 Functional Skills in Maths and Level 2 Maths, while also building her confidence up to complete her teaching training studies and manage her small ironing business.
Georgie said: “I started my learning journey around two years ago. This was a challenge, however the staff at PHX Training were excellent and supportive and tried to meet my learning needs. With their help, I successfully passed my maths. Progressing to Level 2 Maths has been a big step up but the staff have adapted and used a variety of methods to help me understand the new techniques.”
Jordan Hilton, business manager in Carlisle for PHX Training said: “Georgie has committed to coming to the centre every week as she is driven and wants to build on her skills and achieve her qualifications in a timely manner.
“Whilst in the centre, Georgie has always been polite and is a pleasure to have in the centre. Georgie has showed a true aptitude for learning and time management in every aspect of her life.”
PHX Training delivers government-backed initiatives including adult skills – Maths, English and vocational courses, NEET (not in education, employment or training), employability contracts and apprenticeships.
The company specialises in apprenticeship qualifications in business administration skills, offering learners skills for roles such as office executive, office supervisor, membership administrator and personal administrator. Apprenticeships delivered by PHX also include team leading, customer service, hospitality, management and warehousing across the North West.
The PHX team of qualified trainers also offers a diverse range of resources including offline, online and face-to-face services at six training centres in Barrow, Carlisle, Workington, Morecambe, Preston and Blackpool.
