About
Our goal is to help people enter education, voluntary or paid work and most importantly, sustain that work to the benefit of their mental, social and economic health.
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We are keen to support individuals who may face additional barriers in accessing these opportunities.
Our Story
Real Purpose is a social enterprise based in Leicestershire, England, UK. We are driven by a shared passion of helping people find good jobs or learning opportunities and making a positive difference to our area and beyond.
Our team has years of experience in the supported employment and skills sector, and some of us have lived experience of mental ill health.
We learned that having a job we cared about had a transformative impact on to our mental health recovery and because of this, we wanted to help others experience these benefits too. So in late 2023, founders Peter Smith and Jess Talbott set up Real Purpose.​
At Real Purpose, we believe in the power of collaboration and aim to partner with individuals, employers and other local stakeholders to unlock and secure opportunities for people who need support to find and stay in work, volunteering or education.
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Our journey has started with a focus on addressing a critical gap in employment support for people with mental health problems in Leicestershire throughout 2024.
We have been funded to run the Leicestershire Employment and Skills programme for individuals currently accessing or at risk of requiring support by NHS primary care services (their GP surgery or NHS Talking Therapies) for poor mental health.
But our mission doesn't end there. The plan is to expand our reach and provide employment support for other disadvantaged groups in more areas, so they too can discover purpose through work or learning.​​​
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