Luke’s volunteering supports his route to IT success

Luke Shore, a young Autistic man from Tameside has a lot to be proud of and is successfully achieving some key milestones and confidence on his route to pursuing a career in the IT industry with the support of Tameside Council’s Routes to Work Team.

Luke has been working hard with the Routes to Work Team to help build his confidence and skills to help him achieve his dream job. He recently volunteered as a mentor at the Tameside HACK8 event, a two day digital coding event for 11-18 year olds and gained valuable skills to help him achieve his goal of being a software/games developer.

Having previously attended two Tameside HACK events as a participant and at this year’s event Luke had grown in confidence so much he was able to share his experiences and knowledge with other students and attendees as a mentor. Throwing himself into the task with real gusto, he engaged extremely well with the students over the course of the two days, becoming a great role model to the young people taking part.

Luke showed a gift for putting students at ease from the first day and helped ensure they had the best possible experience, allowing participants to make new friends, expand their digital skills and knowledge and linking up with many other experienced mentors/employers. Luke’s passion for the sector really came across at the event.

Councillor David Sweeton, Tameside Council Executive Member (Inclusive Growth, Business & Employment) said; “It’s brilliant to see Routes to Work helping residents gain the confidence and skills they need on the road to find the right job for them. It’s also about having great experiences on the way which support their development so they can find the job of their dreams and become a real asset to any employer.”

Routes to Work, Employment Officer Scott Beswick is very proud of Luke’s progress, he said: “Luke has gained valuable experience volunteering as a Tameside HACK Technical Mentor, the event provided Luke with a fantastic opportunity to support the young people with various coding challenges as well as work alongside other mentors and network with many providers/organisations within the digital sector and he grabbed it with both hands and did himself proud.”

Luke shared his thoughts on the experience “It was hectic but so much fun. It was great to interact with everyone, participants and businesses alike and it was really exciting to be involved in the Hack, the team were really supportive too and I would love to do it again.”

He also said: “I’d wholeheartedly recommend Routes to Work to anyone looking for a job or support who has learning difficulties or barriers to finding work to overcome. They offer the best support when it comes to pointing you in the right direction and helping you gain skills and training to help you move towards gaining employment. They are always there to talk to and help you improve yourself so that you can refine your job prospects and take actions that will allow you to prosper and do what you love.

Good luck to Luke on the next steps on his employment journey!

If you want to find out more about how Routes to Work can help you go to www.tameside.gov.uk/supportedemployment