Residents of Park Village attended the first session this week where they received mentoring and advice in overcoming perceived barriers in getting a job or the training they need. The City of Wolverhampton's neighbourhood services team will follow the successful first Employability Scheme session with more in the new year.
The team has developed a programme of activities to support unemployed people who are experiencing difficulty in gaining employment. Anyone attending the sessions will benefit from informal advice which could steer them towards training, jobs or even starting up their own business. The neighbourhood services team is working with a range of organisations, including Wolverhampton College, to deliver the scheme.
Boosting the city's skills base is the main aim of the Wolverhampton's Skills and Employability Commission, which was launched last month. It will be asking for information from businesses, education providers and others to help it make recommendations to improve people's prospects and the city's economic growth. Figures released today show that the number of people claiming job seekers allowance in Wolverhampton dropped by 7.8% between October and November.
City of Wolverhampton communities leader Elias Mattu said: "It is a top priority for the City of Wolverhampton to ensure more people can access training, increase their skills and find lasting employment.
"That is why schemes like this are important. These sessions are taking place where we know people will benefit from this type of support. It can sometimes be confusing to know where to go to receive advice and so by holding a drop in session on people's doorstep, we hope to make is as easy as possible. We can also use the feedback from residents to help us develop the scheme so people can get the best out of it.
"It was encouraging to see people attend the first session who can now use the advice to give them more confidence and hopefully steer them towards a new job."
Anybody interested in joining the Employment Scheme should attend the first session of the new year at 9.30am on Monday 12 January, 2015 at Stratton Street Community Centre, Nine Elms Lane, Park Village.
People can contact either Manjit Cheema on 01902 556625 or Karen Sahota on 01902 551886 for further information.
- released: Thursday 18 December, 2014