Andy joined TEAM for a happy ending to his checkered career

Q Why did you join TEAM?

Andy: I have to be honest with you, I joined because they did not discriminate against me. I am an ex-offender. I have been in prison, but that was not held against me. I did my time, which gave me the chance to think about my life. I realised that I needed to work, but I didn’t have any skills. And I have got seven children to support.

Q What did you do before?

Andy: I was fed up with dead-end jobs, no prospects, wasting my life. I didn’t care if I was on the dole, no money in the pocket, that’s why I went into crime. I went to prison, but when I came out I didn’t get anywhere looking for a job. Then TEAM came along, and now I have got permanent employment.

Q What makes TEAM different?

Andy: They are considerate to employees. My partner recently had a baby, and they made it clear from day one that I had to take time off to be with her. I had to get a certificate to qualify to work on a building site, and that costs money: TEAM paid the costs of that, which they didn’t have to do. I am thinking of buying my own property, and TEAM has offered to help me with financial advice when I need it, which a lot of firms wouldn’t do.

Q What do you see as the future for TEAM?

Andy: It’s a good future, because there is a desperate shortage of affordable homes. TEAM is not going to put the price of its properties out of each of people’s pockets, even for people like me who don’t have a lot of money.

Q Does TEAM make a difference to the local community?

Andy: Unemployed people gain from the new jobs we are creating. When you look for work with other firms, 99% of the time they insist on you having experience. But how can you get the experience if you don’t have a job? TEAM is teaching its employees the skills to provide the homes people need.
And local businesses are benefiting from the trade we are giving them. We will end up with 70 people making concrete panels and erecting them on Sutton’s Wharf. This contributes to local regeneration, but I don’t know what will happen to us if the government takes land from TEAM to use as a bus depot.

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