Launched in 2023 the Employ Me programme has had a massive impact on community residents within the Newry, Mourne and Down District, and Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Councils. At the celebration event on Southern Regional College’s Newry campus on Tuesday 27th March, programme partners and guests came together to celebrate the vast impact of the scheme to date.
Funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund the programme has enabled participants to transform their future. The programme targeted economically inactive participants, those the furthest from the job market with specific support available for those facing additional challenges, from people with caring responsibilities, long-term unemployed individuals, those with past involvement in the justice system, and women seeking to return to work.
A unique partnership between Clanrye Group, Community Advice Newry Mourne and Down, Women’s Aid Armagh Down and SRC, this partnership has provided programme participants with essential vocational training and qualifications to secure employment and wraparound support from CV building, interview skills, counselling and short workshops, to break down barriers and help participants on their journey back to employment.
At the programme outset, Employ Me set out to support 1,400 individuals. The programme smashed this target enrolling and supporting close to 1,700 individuals in the last two years, 123% of the original target. Males and females have been equally supported in the programme with 845 programme participants being female and 840 participants being male. All ages were encouraged to engage with the programme, with 70% of participants within the age range of 19-49 years old, 23% being aged 50 plus and the remaining 7% between the ages of 16-18 years old.
Speaking on the programme’s success, Lee Campbell, Principal & CEO of Southern Regional College commented:
“The collaboration and partnership between sectors brings the strengths, reach, specialist advice, support and services of our voluntary and community sector partners together with the vocational training and expertise of Southern Regional College. We look forward to continuing this work with our partners, to support local people into meaningful jobs and well as supporting employers to address labour shortages and continuing to provide the best possible support for the people we serve.”
The programme has been transformative, but its power lies not with statistics, but with the meaningful impact it has made on participants lives. Liam Devine, CEO at Clanrye Group added:
“Our achievements are not just about statistics—they are about real people, real progress, and real transformation. The heart of Employ Me is its commitment to lifelong learning. It is about empowering individuals with the skills, confidence, and support they need—not just to find work but to build a sustainable future.”
Kellie Murray, CEO Community Advice Newry, Mourne and Down further added:
Employ Me is a programme to support the most vulnerable in our society. We are here to support individuals, do a benefit check and show that they are financially better off having a job. At Community Advice we help to give direction to those who may be concerned over things like debt, employment, consumer issues, housing or benefit entitlements. Given the recent announcements by the Government to change the welfare system, programs like this will be very much needed. Unfortunately, there will also be many vulnerable people finding themselves looking for work for the first time and will need a lot of support on their journey.
Eileen Murphy, CEO of Women’s Aid Armagh Down added to this sentiment:
“The voluntary and community sector working alongside each other is really important because the response to domestic abuse has to be a whole society response. The future potential of the programme is significant and we were delighted to be part of this unique opportunity.”
Funding for Employ Me will continue until March 2026, with the expectation of helping more people rejoin the workforce.