The Pioneer Group’s Place 2 Work scheme is celebrating another success as Nazia Riaz fulfils her dream of working for the NHS.

Mother of two, Nazia, has just completed her COVID Vaccinator training and has now been promoted within the NHS.

Nazia previously worked within a legal firm and heard about the Place 2 Work as a route into the health service and decided to apply.

Place 2 Work supports local people, who are struggling to find work as a result of COVID-19, to secure employment.

Nazia worked with Place to Work Coordinator, Fateha Begum, who coached her on how to get work, and opportunities with the Covid Vaccinator programme.

Nazia explained:

I now have a foot in the door of a career in NHS, which is amazing as it’s somewhere I have wanted to work for a few years. I want to help people and see the health service as a fantastic organisation and am now part of it. I am a people-person and my experience so far has been perfect since I have been provided with an opportunity, and if this wasn’t for this project, I wouldn’t have got in.

Back in December 2020, Nazia started her training as a non-medical vaccinator role and has since worked across multiple sites including Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Millennium Point, Edgbaston Cricket Ground, and even at mobile sites.

On the busiest days, vaccination centres were seeing 1,200 – 1,500 people a day across all sites, so Nazia hasn’t had a dull moment while interacting with lots of different people.

In terms of what’s next for Nazia, she is aiming to develop her career within the NHS while currently focusing on vaccine logistics, where she ensures that the vaccine is stored at the correct temperature and sees here future as a pharmacy technician or ward clerk.

Place 2 Work Coordinator Fateha concluded:

We’re so proud of what Nazia has achieved. We have already used the scheme to find work placements at Jaguar Land Rover and now we have scheme participants building up solid healthcare experience within the NHS. We wish her well in fulfilling her dream.