Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

For years I've thought about running a marathon, but it's always felt too hard, too time-consuming or I've just not felt strong enough...but this year I'm doing it!!

Inspired by the men and women I work with every day, who experience so many barriers as they seek to gain purposeful employment, I have decided that I can push through too and achieve my life-goal! And as I do so, I am aiming to raise much needed funds to help them with their life-goals too.

So, on Sunday 2nd October I will be running the beautiful (if hillier than expected) Kielder Marathon alongside my legend of a friend Tim French. Tim has promised to not only help me train but run the route with me to cheer me on and keep me going when I feel like giving up - much like I do with my candidates. 

I would absolutely love it if you could please help keep me going over the next 11 weeks by making a donation and leaving an encouraging message.

I work for The Recruitment Junction, it's the only recruitment charity in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear that helps place men and women with past convictions into permanent meaningful employment. We were founded in the midst of the pandemic and have placed people into more than 210 jobs (and counting), with a fantastic 86% retention rate!

Take Matty for example. Matty started working with me at the end of last year, having had all the confidence knocked out of him by what others have spoken over him. 6 months on and he's a different person, full of joy, and enjoying work. I’ve helped him re-write his CV, prepare to disclose his conviction, practice interview questions, and have put him forward to employers. In addition, I sorted his right to work identity documents, gave him confidence to approach local businesses at a jobs fair, advised him on application forms, accessed training for him and even gave him a Christmas hamper full of treats.

Our heart is to see lives, families, communities and our local economy  changed as a result. We want to see a better story written over the lives of our candidates. We want to break the generational cycle of children following parents into jail. And we want people to discover their true identity and value, not defined by their past.

If you can give me a big boost and support this life-changing work, I would be very grateful!

You can help someone through our programme (CV, disclosure statement, interview practice, put forward to local employers). Or contribute towards our hardship fund to cover the essential ‘extras’ which are so often needed for people to start work. For example:

• £10 - mobile phone top-up card so candidates can contact us and employers
• £24 - travel pass to get to work for the first week
• £35 - birth certificate needed to prove right to work
• £50 - new home starter pack for when candidates have to move accommodation in order to start work
• £99 - construction site access card and qualification

Many thanks and lots of love, Jo xx

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