Ashford Together - Kickstart

Over the past 4 weeks, ENGIE have been working together with Ashford Borough Council and Churches Together to put our Kickstart programme into place. This involved redecorating the soup kitchen / coffee bar, and installing a brand new kitchen which will be used by the church to cook meals on a daily basis for the homeless people of Ashford.

Working with Ashford Borough Council, ENGIE were able to help both Andy and Kajun, two homeless gentlemen in Ashford, find temporary accommodation and offer them the chance to help ENGIE complete the coffee bar and kitchen refurb. This was a great opportunity for them to both gain training and experience and to offer them a path way into a 5 year career plan within the construction industry.

on Monday 2nd March 2020 was the grand opening of the newly renovated coffee bar and kitchen which was used for the first time to cook 60 meals for the homeless. The ENGIE site team was on hand to help and give both Andy and Kajun a care package each to help them settle into their new accommodation.

A special guest, The Mayoress of Ashford and Councillor Jenny Webb attended to officially open the new kicthen and listen to the journeys of both Andy and Kajun as they move into a career with ENGIE.

Andy and Kajun both completed the program which saw them achieve a QNUK Level 1 Health and Safety test, UKATA Asbestos Awareness, completion of a community project, and mock interviews provided by ENGIE to prepare them for their real interviews into work.

On Friday 6th March 2020 both Andy and Kajun attended their interviews, and both of them have secured new job opportunities with ENGIE. Andy now has a full time roofing job, and Kajun now has a 2 year Multi Tradesman apprenticeship.