Action
team to help unemployed in New Brighton get back to work
By Graham
Wilmer - graham.wilmer@newbrightononline.org.uk
 |
| Action
Team for Jobs with local MP Angela Eagle |
Specially
trained local advisers from the Government's highly successful 'Action
for Jobs' initiative have established a new outreach post at the recently
refurbished Community Centre in New Brighton. Initially set up as
a one year 'pilot' scheme, Wirral's Action for Jobs Team have already
helped nearly 1000 unemployed residents in seven of the Borough's
wards overcome a range of financial and other difficulties and get
back to work.
The Action
Team work with individuals on a one to one basis in the community
to help them find suitable employment. Where appropriate, they will
provide help with training, funding for child care, travel and other
necessary expenses, such as the purchase of tools, that make the difference
between being willing to work and being able to work.
Project
Manager Viv Courtney said: "Many of the people we have helped
were not actively seeking work for a range of reasons. Some had been
on incapacity benefit for long periods and simply did not know who
to turn to for help, while others, particularly lone parents, faced
with problems such as finding suitable child care, felt they were
trapped in a hopeless cycle they could not break out of.
"By
understanding their specific needs, and working with them in their
own communities, we are able to help them resolve the problems that
were stopping them from getting back to work. It's a very different
approach to the more formal procedures that operate in job centres,
which some people find difficult to deal with."
A typical
example of this new approach is Elaine who, having lost her job due
to ill health, found it difficult to pick up the pieces and get back
to work. She had been to her local job centre but her personal circumstances
made it difficult to get to interviews. The Action Team set about
finding her a job closer to where she lived. Having found one, they
also provided her with a Work Grant to tide her over until she collected
her first monthly wage packet.
George,
aged 53, is another example. George had been on sickness benefit for
10 years and believed no one would employ him again. The Action Team
worked with him for several weeks, encouraging him to find the confidence
to train as a bus driver, which they paid for. George is now in full
time employment and his life is very different.
"We
know there are lots of people in the community who long to work but
can't find way back into employment," said Viv. "We can
help them, regardless of any problems they may have had in the past.
All they have to do is contact us by ringing the freephone number
0800 032 0031. We will make an appointment to see them and take it
from there. The one thing we can promise them from the outset is that
there is no pressure on them - we will work with them for as long
as it takes to help them find a suitable job."
For more
information, contact Action For Jobs on freephone 0800 032 0031, or
pop in to the New Brighton Community Centre, 1A Hope Street, New Brighton,
and ask for a leaflet.
