A County Durham charity has supplied its first road bike to a struggling man through one of its community projects.

Building Self Belief supplied the road bike to Guy Launchbury through their Tow Law community projects.

Having moved to County Durham from London to have an improved quality of life for his children, Guy Launchbury has struggled to find work since moving to Tow Law two years ago, due to a lack of transport links.

Guy has attended the family support and employability workshops hosted by Building Self Belief Founder and Senior Manager, Peter Thomas to help him find a job.

He said: “I was driving and had a car when I first moved here but I couldn’t afford to keep it, and that made it nearly impossible to find a job I could get to.”

Building Self Belief received a household support fund from the County Durham Community Foundation, allowing the charity to buy Guy a reconditioned bike, helmet and high-visibility jacket.

The Northern Echo: Guy Launchbury wearing his high visibility jacket with his new bike from Building Self Belief

He said: “I’ve had bikes in the past but they’ve never been great or roadworthy so Peter helped me to get a good bike that can do the distance.

“Having a bike has improved my mental health too, I don’t have to rely on the limited bus services or friends to take me places, it’s just really improved my quality of life."

Funded through charity collaborations with Sunderland Counselling Service and County Durham Community Foundation, Building Self Belief are completing several projects in Tow Law, County Durham to benefit community members. For adults in the community, they provide a jobs club to raise their aspirations and provide guidance on employability.

The Northern Echo: Building Self Belief Employability Leaflet

Guy said: “I go every week to the workshops – I check every day to see what jobs are available but the workshops have helped me find opportunities, and improved my CV, and interview skills – Peter is an amazing job coach."

Building Self-Belief is a County Durham charity based in Consett, founded in April 2018, and formally launched by Sue Snowdon, the Lord Lieutenant of County Durham. 

One of their current aims is to tackle several issues they have identified in Tow Law such as winter fuel poverty, social isolation, and high unemployment which are all exacerbated by poor transportation after reduced bus services and the cancellation of the Sunday bus service were implemented in June. 

Building Self Belief was the County Durham Charity chosen by Sunderland Counselling Service to receive £10,000 for a project to celebrate their 40th anniversary. This has allowed them to set up employability workshops as well as a youth club.

Christine Thomas, Chief Executive of Building Self-Belief said: “It’s so important that so many charities can work together to help people solve their problems, we have to give them the incentive to be more aspirational for themselves, rather than just give advice.”

The charity hosts the youth club every Wednesday and the club includes activities like craft evenings. They also provide a warm space for members of the community, food for the children attending and well-being sessions. The programme provides a weekly winter point of contact for young people, their careers and the wider Tow Law Community. 

The Northern Echo: Building Self Belief Youth Club Leaflet

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Jenny Flynn MBE runs the Tow Law Community Association and has an abundance of experience in charity and community work, she said: “The feedback I’m getting about the Building Self Belief work is that it’s really well run and the community appreciates it, they can come in, the kids have an activity, a hot drink and a snack and if parents need to use the computers for job searches they can be supported.

“As a community centre, we lack volunteers, so for Building Self Belief to be able to help out and provide grants it’s incredibly helpful.”

For more information on attending the employability workshops, or parents wanting to register their children to be a part of the Wednesday youth club can contact X & Facebook - @BSBCIO or at https://www.buildingselfbelief.org/