Cash will help Teessiders in search for work
Jul 8 2009 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette
ALMOST £1m is being injected into parts of Tees Valley to help disadvantaged people improve their skills and find jobs.
And the additional European Social Fund support has been allocated to employment specialists Working Links because the organisation has already helped more people find jobs than predicted.
Welfare-to-work provider Working Links has helped over 100,000 people throughout the country and the ESF Tees Valley North team has already helped over 250 people find jobs.
Also over 800 people have been helped to tackle their barriers to employment such as skills and confidence issues and these achievements have now been recognised by the Department for Work and Pensions, with the announcement of the extra funding.
The three year ESF contracts for North and South Tees Valley, cover Hartlepool, Billingham, Stockton, Thornaby, Darlington, Redcar and Middlesbrough and aim to support both disadvantaged/lone parents, people with health issues or disabilities, ethnic minorities, people over 50+ and people with low or no qualifications into employment.
The programme helps disadvantaged people with support such as mentoring, training and job search activities plus continued help for a further 26 weeks once they’ve found a job.
Alongside practical support such as cv building, customers are also helped with motivation and confidence-building, presentation and assertiveness, and improving their jobsearch techniques.
Many customers also benefit from registering with the Employer Solution Team and attending training routeways that give them the skills and nationally recognised qualifications which employers are looking for in areas such as security, care, retail, warehouse and call centre work.
“This additional European funding means we can continue to make a real difference to the lives of people in Tees Valley,” said performance manager Kaye Lake.
“People who need this vital extra support to tackle a range of barriers that are preventing them from working.
“It’s great news for the area and a reflection of the hard work and dedication that the team has shown, especially in the current climate.”
Anyone interested in learning more about how Working Links can help should contact freephone 0800 917 9262.
