Mobile job shop comes to town
THE UK's first specialist mobile employment centre wheeled into Thorne last week in a bid to help the long-term unemployed get back into work.
Remploy's two 120,000 JobMobiles were travelling to small towns and more remote parts of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire as part of the Flexible New Deal (FND) programme.
Staff from the specialist employment service were aiming to boost the employability skills of people who currently receive Job Seekers Allowance and the JobMobile was in Sainsburys car park in Thorne to provide personalised back to work services, including CV writing, interview coaching and enhanced job searching techniques.
Beth Carruthers, Director of Employment Services at Remploy, said people living in rural areas often had limited access to expert employment services which, combined with other barriers to work such as problems with child care and lack of awareness of vacancies, limited their job opportunities.
Transport could also be a problem for the long term unemployed, often putting people off from travelling into the city centre to seek work.
Additionally, she said, the types of jobs available were also restricted, typically administrative or shop front jobs in small retail businesses or small offices that offered limited opportunities for career progression.
Remploy employment advisors operating from each of the two 30ft long JobMobiles offered guidance to overcoming these barriers.
Each unit is fitted with a satellite dish that provides high speed Internet connection to six PCs to assist with job hunting, online job applications and preparation for interviews.
"People living in rural parts of Derbyshire and South Yorkshire face barriers to finding the right job whether because of poor transport links, limited access to information about vacancies or other social factors," said Beth.
"The JobMobiles took vital employment information to those who have been unemployed for more than 12 months and also provided advice and training to prepare them for work.
"When Remploy was awarded the FND prime contract for South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, we were required to deliver a service throughout the contract area, and the whole region is not covered by our branch infrastructure. These units provide an efficient way of delivering quality employment services to those people who live in the more remote parts of the counties."
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Weather for Thorne
Monday 06 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -5 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
