The following is an extract from
the Yorkshire Evening Post dated 17th July
2002.
A SUCCESSFUL scheme to find new jobs for
unemployed people in Leeds is looking for
its next batch of recruits.
Single parents and other carers are offered
work which can be fitted around their childcare
responsibilities under the project run by
Leeds City Council.
Elite Forwarders, a growing warehousing and
distribution firm based in Cabbage Hill, Wortley,
joined forces with the council's West Leeds
Family Learning Centre last summer to recruit
local unemployed people.
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The company - which distributes to major companies
including Marks and Spencer and Asda - recruited 74
jobless people last year and is looking for around
10 new recruits this summer.
An information day is being held at West Leeds Family
Learning Centre on Wednesday, July 24, when local
people can find out more about the jobs on offer,
childcare advice and how their benefits would be affected.
Training sessions were held at the nearby Family
Learning Centre last July to help the original batch
of new employees gain the skills the company needed.
Potential candidates were given an initial assessment
and then a trial in the workplace, rather than having
to face a formal interview.
Sam Jones overcame dyslexia to gain her perfect job.
Sam, who has a four-year-old daughter Corrina, took
courses in computing, maths and English at West Family
Learning Centre when she was out of work last year.
She started last July as a garment packer and by
September gained a clerical job with the company.
In March she was promoted to a full time administrative
position in the manager's office. Sam said: "I
found it very hard to get back into work after taking
time out to have a family and to find hours that suited
me.
"When I got a permanent clerical position I
was over the moon as that was what I really wanted
to do." Dave Foxton, manager at West Leeds Family
Learning Centre, said: "We are delighted to be
helping a company which is prepared to guarantee jobs
for local people and help unemployed people overcome
some of the barriers they have to finding work.
Fitted in
"The beauty of many of these jobs is that are
perfect for parents and carers who would like to get
back into work as they can be fitted around commitments
such school runs."
Coun Tom Murray, Leeds City Council executive board
member with responsibility for lifelong learning,
said: "The success of the partnership between
Elite and our family learning centre is now evident.
Through schemes such as this, individuals such as
Sam are given new opportunities.
"More local people in local jobs means that
whole communities benefit - a sure step towards sustainable
regeneration in Leeds."
The Job Guarantee scheme was devised to help people
take a first step into work by providing a guaranteed
job at the end of a period of training. It is also
designed to benefit employers by providing them with
motivated recruits who live locally and who have already
demonstrated commitment through training.
The West Leeds Family Learning Centre is one of four
family learning centres across the city run by the
council's Department of Training which has developed
a number of successful job guarantee partnerships
with firms including Morrisons, Tesco, CostCo, the
White Rose Shopping Centre and Shire Inns.
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