Skills centre deluged by people looking for work

Jan 26 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A SMALL skills centre is expanding after been inundated with requests from people who have been made redundant or are worried about losing their jobs.

Training Solutions runs online learning courses and works with people looking for looking for work in rural Northumberland from its offices in Alnwick and Berwick.

It has just secured bigger offices in Berwick and is looking to take on two more staff to add to the 10-strong workforce.

Victoria Bell, who set up the business with her mother from a farm office four years ago, said that Training Solutions is now two to three times as busy as it was before Christmas.

She added: “Literally it has been from the beginning of the new year. For one of our unemployment programmes we would usually have five to 10 people, now we have 18 due to start.”

The demise of Woolworths, which had stores in both Alnwick and Berwick, means people who thought they had a job for life are now looking for work.

Ms Bell said: “We have seen five or six from Woolworths specifically and 50% are doing learning with us to update their skills.

“One lady had worked with the store for more than 20 years. She’s never had to have a CV or learned about interview technique or filling in a job application form.

“Also, if you’ve worked in the same job for 20 years, you’re not going to be au fait with IT.

“We are here not only to help people learn new skills to secure new employment but also to offer support at a very difficult and distressing time for people.”

In addition to the problems caused by the current economic climate, people looking for work in the countryside have particular issues to deal with.

“We’re in a rural location here in north Northumberland, therefore there’s no denying there are additional challenges like travel issues, meaning it can be harder to find employment,” said Ms Bell.

“The jobs are out there and with the tourist season just around the corner, we are confident we can help people to access these.”

Alnwick-born Ms Bell went into business after working in IT for the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh for seven years.

She said: “It’s fulfilling, you are literally on a daily basis helping people create goals they can reach.”