Putting young people first during Living Wage Week

We want to put young people at the forefront of Living Wage Week. Phoenix Community Housing is proud to be a Living Wage Employer, meaning we pay our staff a wage which meets real everyday needs.

Phoenix is among one of the few employers that pays both its apprentices and Kickstart trainees the London Living Wage.

This has been even more important over the last 18 months during COVID. The pandemic has been a learning curve for all of us, but especially for our apprentices who joined us in the midst of lockdown.

It was an unusual start for our apprentices as they navigated their new roles while working from home during the pandemic. We caught up with our new apprentices, Molly, Lucy, Alex and Jack to see how they’ve been getting on since joining Phoenix.

“I’ve found that an apprenticeship is a really good way to get into the workplace. The combination of on-the-job training and supervision by an apprenticeship tutor means that I will finish my course with all the skills I need to move forward with my career. Starting a new job while working from home can be really difficult, but I feel that I have been really well supported by both my team at work and my apprenticeship tutor. I would definitely recommend applying for an apprenticeship, even if it’s something that you have not considered before.” - Financial Wellbeing Apprentice, Molly Buttigieg.

Molly has now been successful in securing a permanent role as an Income Office at Phoenix, joining a number of former apprentices who have gone to build their career with us.

“I would recommend an apprenticeship to anyone who wants to learn important and useful skills whilst experiencing them in the real working world. I really enjoy the fact I can train in business admin whilst getting invaluable experience working in a team and putting the stuff I am learning into practice.” - Strategic Asset Management Apprentice, Lucy Thomas

“I’m excited to be going to college and learning again, and really looking forward to re-training in an outdoor setting and making a career out of it. I feel blessed to have this opportunity.” – Grounds Maintenance Apprentice, Jack Slythe

“I enjoy everything about my apprenticeship. My team is great. They’ve made me feel really welcome to Phoenix and like what I do is important to the business. I feel like a cog in the machine that is our team. Although I’m working from home, I can see the effort the effort my team is putting into me and my apprenticeship. I’m really grateful to be part of a team that is putting in so much time and effort to develop my skills and knowledge.” - Procurement and Contracts Management Apprentice, Alex Mooney

Since Phoenix’s creation we’ve recruited over 40 apprentices, many of whom – like Molly - have gone on to work in permanent positions in Phoenix. Others have used the skills and knowledge they gained to springboard into careers with other organisations.

If you’re interested in starting your career with Phoenix, look out for future apprenticeship vacancies here on our website.

We’re committed to being a Living Wage Employer and we ask that all our contractors and suppliers pay their employees at Living Wage too. Find out more about the Living Wage.