 In Think Family, we support families to achieve their potential, and along the way we often face many challenges. Almost 70% of those families who receive Think Family support are receiving an out of work benefit. For many, their prospect of work can seem a long way off, and even the thought of returning to work can be of the source of much anxiety. But in Think Family we see the potential and look for the solutions. Addressing worklessness can yield far-reaching benefits for a family, not just financially but across all aspects of their lives. When I first met Manka, she was recovering from cancer. She just finished her radiotherapy and acupuncture therapy. She wasn't well enough to be working. She wasn't actually on any benefits. When I first met Sam, my son Chiyan was not in school, and I was having my cancer treatment. And like, single mom, I was like in a shock and nervous, and I was having all this, how to call it, anxiety and everything, and then, you know, a friend gave me the number. The point at which I got involved in the case was when Sam, the key worker, invited me in to have a look at Manka's benefit claim. Originally there was problems with like getting them into payment, but at the moment it looked like they were going to run out very shortly due to legislation about EEA workers coming into the UK. So it turned out we only had about two weeks in which to find Manka's sustainable employment. Manka was keen to work. She wanted to be a good role model to her children. She obviously knew she'd benefit from working because it would entice her to working tax credit as well. My first steps with Manka were to have a look at a CV, appraise her work history and see how we could market it best to employers here in England. She had previous work experience about 10 years ago and so it was a case of trying to update that, put in things she'd done recently and also school she picked up as a parent to basically entice employers. I also took Manka down to the library where they've got my work search, which is a online job search portal. Introduced to that, got her registered and the CV uploaded. We started doing some online application forms. That appointment in the library was so helpful because I've made my CV but I didn't know how good it was. You showed me a lot of things that I've never knew before. You've made my cover letter and made my CV properly and then do a lot of copies for me. What happened next? Within a week Manka had secured two interviews from about 15 applications. With both of those interviews she came across extremely well and was off for both jobs. She was really excited about this and was in a great position to go to choose which was the better for her circumstance. It's really changed my life because going from the house every day to the workplace and meeting different people, smiling at people every day, think family is part of it and without your help it's going to be very difficult for me. I wish everybody to know about Think Family because they are lovely. The journey to work may be a long one but West Sussex has a wealth of providers ready to help people take those first steps towards employment, whether it be through courses, voluntary placements, work tasters or even work trials. If you would like support helping families back into work, please contact the Think Family Employment Advisors via the email. They can help answer work-created queries and engage directly with a family if required.