BOOST marks 10 years of supporting residents into work
BOOST, the council’s award-winning employment, skills and digital inclusion service, is celebrating its tenth birthday, and a decade of helping thousands of Barnet residents into work and training.
Launched in 2015 as a pilot project to test a new, holistic approach to employment support, BOOST is run in partnership with The Barnet Group. Over the past decade, the service has grown into a key community resource, supporting more than 6,200 residents and helping over 3,300 people into work – equating to roughly one person finding work every day for the past decade.
In the last financial year alone, BOOST helped 388 residents into employment with 85% staying in work for at least three months. More than half of those who registered for support last year transitioned into work.
Alongside job support, the service also plays an important role in tackling digital exclusion through the Barnet Council Digital Inclusion Programme, offering weekly digital workshops, managing a network of Digital Champion volunteers and leading low-cost device and sim card schemes for residents in need.
BOOST also provides welfare benefits advice as well as weekly homelessness and housing advice drop-in sessions in partnership with Barnet Homes.
Over the years, it has received national recognition, winning awards from the Department for Work and Pensions and the Shaw Trust, as well as being shortlisted for a Municipal Journal award.
The council’s service has continually adapted to meet new challenges and emerging community needs, from supporting Ukrainian refugees and working with World Jewish Relief’s STEP programme to being selected in 2024 as the only Arm’s Length Management Organisation in the country to test a social housing and employment model called Jobs Plus with the Learning and Work Institute.
Cllr Barry Rawlings, Barnet Council Leader, said: "BOOST continues to make a real difference for people across Barnet, highlighting the council’s commitment to creating opportunities and tackling barriers to employment. The service success over the last decade shows what can be achieved when services are built around the real needs of residents.”
The Barnet Group's Head of Partnerships, David Thomas, said: “The essence of the BOOST approach is collaborative working this is how the service has been able to sustain itself over 10 years and adapt to so many social and economic changes. Our core partnership is of course with Barnet Council but there are so many other partners who have helped us along the way. Above all BOOST has great staff many have lived experience and are ex-clients but all share a common ambition to help Barnet residents.”