European Social Fund in England

“It was an eye opener to find that there were nice people out there willing to help.”

Rod Nesbitt has come a long way in the last 18 months. In 2008, he was living on a caravan site in a farmer’s field in Cornwall. Having spent four and half years in prison, and with a drug problem behind him, he had no prospects and was feeling depressed.

Rod had an interest in tattooing but didn’t know how he could develop this into a career. Then a friend told him about Cornwall Works for Social Enterprise, a Convergence ESF programme co-financed by DWP and managed by Cornwall Council.

He went for a meeting with the programme provider, Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) to see how they could help him. RIO works with artists and creative industries, and helps people to develop their creativity. It was the perfect starting point.

RIO worked with Rod to put together an action plan, which began with counselling sessions to tackle the mental barriers preventing him from moving forward. He also received help with housing issues, which had been another barrier, taking away his focus on getting job ready and establishing any kind of career.

ESF funding enabled Rod to attend a watercolour and drawing class, so that he could work on his talent and improve his discipline, whilst building his confidence both in his abilities and in himself. ESF also provided funding for equipment he needed to get started.

At the end of the course, the RIO team helped Rod put together a portfolio, so that he could show examples of his work to potential employers in the tattoo industry. Soon enough, he was taken on as an apprentice at a local tattoo parlour.

Throughout the apprenticeship, RIO continued to help Rod with travel costs and finding accommodation, and arranged for him to be supplied with a full set of tattooing inks in preparation for permanent work.

Having served his apprenticeship, in October 2009 Rod finally took on a chair and started working as a professional tattooist at Flying Colours Tattoo & Piercings in St. Austell, Cornwall. With the RIO’s help, he has also found accommodation in a nearby flat and feels much more confident about both his work and his career prospects.

Rod currently specialises in Oriental designs, but he is looking to expand his scope of work as he prepares for the opportunities that will open up for him once he has the three years of ‘in-shop’ experience.

‘‘Everything RIO has done for me is spot on” said Rod “The programme has given me a sense of well-being and self confidence”.

Rod is one of over 1000 people that have found work thanks to Convergence. Over the last nine months, the programme has seen an average of three people every single day moving into work.

Carleen Kelemen, director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly said, “A huge and well deserved thank you to Jobcentre Plus and its European Social Fund Convergence delivery partners, with over 1000 people moving into work so far – well above target. The present economic climate presents many people with considerable personal challenges. The ESF Convergence investment, in particular that being co-financed by Jobcentre Plus / Department of Work and Pensions, is playing a key role in offering real and practical support to help people back into work.”

Project information (January 2010)

Convergence is a European economic regeneration programme that aims to develop areas where the economy is lagging behind the rest of the European Union. In England, only Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly benefits from ESF funding under the Convergence Objective. The funds are being invested in activities that will have a long-term impact on the economy of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Due to run until 2013, the project received £10.5 million in ESF support in 2009.