‘I have made lifelong friends within this company’ - The Impact of Ethical Cleaners

A cleaner looking content — Karen has worked at Radiant Cleaners for 4 years.

At Radiant Cleaners, we pride ourselves in being one of the best ethical cleaners in Nottingham. But what does this look like in practice?

There are many individuals who face multiple and/or significant barriers to securing employment. Potential unemployment caused by these barriers can impact other areas of these individuals’ lives. This can exacerbate the challenge of sustaining employment, creating a vicious cycle which is hard to break free from.

Karen was one individual who experienced this:

“I have always worked but I came to a stage whereby I had been unemployed for about 3 years. I kept applying for jobs but often they didn’t even bother to write back. I put this down to my age and it began to get me really down and depressed. Money was tight and I was unable to pay all my bills and was beginning to get into debt. This was a downward spiral of worsening health, deeper debt that in turn was having an enormous impact upon my mental health and self-esteem.”

The Financial Impact of Radiant Cleaners

It was at this point that Karen joined the Radiant Cleaners team, and we were able to help begin to break that cycle.

“At first, I didn’t really have enough hours of work to make a real difference to my financial situation, but there was an instant effect on my mental health and the way I viewed myself. This was from having fantastic work colleagues who made me feel really welcome and the lovely office team who were very encouraging both about my work performance and about everything in general.

I approached the team and told them about the hours issue and they gave me more hours as they became available. I began working in a team on a big contract and things really began to change for me. I was able to pay my bills and reduce the arrears and start to pay off the debts (I am now debt-free).”

The Holistic Impact of Radiant Cleaners

Karen has worked at Radiant Cleaners for over 4 years and now works at our sister company, Half the Story. We have helped support her holistically through our Living Life Index and opt-in mentoring, and we have paid her a real Living Wage (a higher wage rate than the Minimum Wage).

“Working in this team really made me grow in confidence. My self-esteem improved and before long I was given a supervisory position. This really made me feel worthwhile and the despondency of feeling too old was beginning to fade away into the distance. […] I have made lifelong friends within this company. Family isn’t too strong a word. Grace Enterprises are family to me now”.