KAREN, FROM LEEDS:

Now 63, Karen worked for many years at the Inland Revenue, but had been unemployed for most of the past five years. She was referred to Smart Works Leeds by the Compton Centre in Harehills, and now works for a local care provider, visiting elderly residents.

“I want to work. I have always worked,” she said. “I missed the camaraderie and not feeling productive.

“You can get very disheartened looking for work. I had eight interviews in four weeks and didn’t get any. But this gave my confidence a boost.”