Guernsey Employment Trust (GET), a charity that supports disabled and disadvantaged people to prepare for, find and maintain employment has appointed John Curran as their new Chair.
The former Chair of Guernsey Mind currently sits on a number of public boards including the Channel Islands Financial Services Ombudsman, the Guernsey Data Protection Authority and Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority.
GET has grown its reputation within the business community and generated some impressive outcomes. GET supports businesses to fill their job vacancies with suitable clients and offers free support to colleagues not only while the new employee learns their role and settles in but on an ongoing basis as required.
GET promotes the benefits that a diverse workforce can bring to an organisation’s competitiveness and desirability as an employer. The team work hard to increase understanding around disability and instil confidence in employers thus encouraging them to provide employment opportunities for this, often untapped, workforce.
GET Chief Executive, Nikki Ioannou-Droushiotis, told Channel Eye: “We have said a fond goodbye to Jurat Stephen Jones, who stepped down as Chair and a Director of GET in March 2021. Stephen’s support and guidance given to the team, as well as his genuine interest in people and the third sector as a whole, has helped to shape GET to become the professional service it is to date. We are now looking forward to a new chapter under the leadership of John. We are keen to see how his experience of working on several boards, including Guernsey Mind, will allow him to review what we do and bring fresh ideas to the table.”
The full impact of Covid-19 has yet to be fully understood, however following two periods of lockdown, GET has received a record number of referrals. John will support GET’s management team with the ongoing development of GET to ensure the charity can adapt to meet the growing demand and continue to deliver a high quality and valuable service to their clients.
“I am delighted to be joining the Board and the team at GET” said John. “The services we provide are needed now more than ever and ensuring we can continue to service the needs of our clients is going to be critical. A key priority for us is to secure longer term financial certainty in order that we can focus on developing our services for our clients and the many businesses who work with us. We will be looking to work with the States and other partners so we can build on the work we have done since we were established in 2015.”
