Fresh Steps

💚 𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 💚

𝚃̲𝙷̲𝙸̲𝚂̲ is what makes my job an absolute joy.

"𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧.

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺.

𝘐𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘊𝘝 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘊𝘝 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘵𝘤.

𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣 (𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘊𝘝 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘦𝘵𝘤) 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 13 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 - 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦 10/10 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴."

📣 𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲!

Join Fresh Steps and our brilliant colleagues from York Learning at the upcoming 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 this morning from 11:00 at York's Job Centre Plus 🙌💼

Whether you’re just starting out, rebuilding confidence, or exploring new opportunities — this is a great chance to:
🔹 Chat with local teams (like us!)
🔹 Learn about paid and unpaid routes into work
🔹 Discover volunteering roles and training options
🔹 Ask questions in a relaxed, friendly space

Pop in, say hello, and find out what’s out there. You might leave with more than you expected 💬🌱

💚👣👥

📣 We’re heading to the Job Centre!

Join Fresh Steps and our brilliant colleagues from York Learning at the upcoming Volunteering and Work Experience Event on Wednesday 11th June 🙌💼

Whether you’re just starting out, rebuilding confidence, or exploring new opportunities — this is a great chance to:
🔹 Chat with local teams (like us!)
🔹 Learn about paid and unpaid routes into work
🔹 Discover volunteering roles and training options
🔹 Ask questions in a relaxed, friendly space

Pop in, say hello, and find out what’s out there. You might leave with more than you expected 💬🌱

💚👣👥

“You’re not drinking? Why not?”
Ever heard that one before? 👀🥴

For some, it’s just a curious question.
But for others — especially those in recovery — it’s loaded. 🎯

We don’t talk enough about the social pressure to drink, and how hard we make it for people who are trying to do something really brave — like change their relationship with alcohol or drugs. 💬🍷🙅‍♀️

Whether someone is in recovery, taking a break, or just choosing not to drink — it shouldn’t need an explanation.
But so often, it does. And that pressure can isolate people or push them toward choices they’re actively trying to avoid. 😔

If we really care about inclusion, wellbeing, and support — we need to do better. ✅
✨ Let’s normalise saying “no thanks”
✨ Let’s hold space without judgment
✨ Let’s celebrate strength in all its forms

Because recovery is hard enough — we don’t need to make it harder.

💙

If you or someone you know is looking for support with drug or alcohol use in York — help is here, and you don’t need to go through it alone.

You can self-refer into structured treatment with Change Grow Live (CGL York). It’s confidential, non-judgemental and there are a few simple ways to get started:

✅ Call the York service directly on 01904 464 680
✅ Visit the York office at 3 Blossom Street, YO24 1AU
✅ Online referral form via the Change Grow Live website
✅ Speak to your GP or another support worker who can refer you

Taking that first step can feel daunting, but it could be the start of real change — and services like Fresh Steps are here to support you every step of the way.

One of those brilliant moments that reminds you why we do what we do… ✨

A client who initially missed out on a role didn’t let it stop them—they started working as a Barista to ease back into a routine and rebuild confidence ☕

Just 4 days into that role, they got the call… the original job offer came in!

The delight in their voice when they rang to share the news was something special. That’s job number 3 for the Fresh Steps programme and now our in-work support kicks in! Onwards and upwards!

This time last week… ✨

We were at the York Barbican Job Fair, connecting with employers, support services, and job seekers. A fantastic day full of conversations and collaboration! 🤝

The image below shows Tristan delivering a short presentation alongside CJ from Coterminous highlighting the strength of employability partnerships across York. 🗣️💼

A great reminder of the power of working together to open doors and create opportunities. Let’s keep the momentum going! 🚀

What a week for employer engagement! 💬🤝

Last week, Glen and Tristan were out and about connecting with a fantastic range of employers across York—starting conversations, exploring opportunities, and breaking down barriers to inclusive hiring. 💼✨

It’s all about building real relationships and showing how Fresh Steps can support businesses while creating meaningful change for individuals in recovery.

If you’re curious about how we can work together, let’s chat!

What a brilliant moment for Fresh Steps this week!

Tristan had the fantastic opportunity to meet David Skaith, Mayor of York & North Yorkshire, and Alison McGovern, Minister of State for Employment, to talk all things IPS (Individual Placement and Support) and the incredible progress we’ve made here in York.

We shared how employment plays a powerful role in recovery — and how Fresh Steps is supporting people into meaningful, sustainable work as part of their journey.

It was also great to highlight our growing collaboration with Jobcentre Plus in York, where we’re working together to improve access to inclusive opportunities and build stronger links between employers and those in structured recovery.

Exciting times ahead — and we’re proud to be part of such important conversations!

At Fresh Steps, we work closely with Change Grow Live because collaboration is key to helping people move forward. Our regular meetings with their team ensure that:

✅ Clients get the best support - We stay updated on their progress in recovery and employment goals.

✅ We work as a team - Aligning our support with recovery services helps build a stronger foundation for long-term success.

✅ Opportunities are shared - Whether it's job leads, training, or extra support, we make sure clients have access to everything they need.

By working together, we can break down barriers to employment and help people build brighter futures.

🙌 Great to Be at the York Barbican Jobs Fair! 🙌

It was fantastic to be at the York Barbican Jobs Fair, meeting so many people and having some really productive conversations! 🎉

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by for a chat—whether you were a jobseeker, employer, or fellow support service, it was great to connect and talk about opportunities in York.

If we didn’t get a chance to speak, or if you want to continue the conversation, drop us a message! Let’s keep the momentum going. 🚀