More than 1,300 job seekers make a visit

Last week’s Carlisle City Council Jobs Fair (Friday, 15 February) is being hailed as a great success after more than 1,300 people made a visit to the free event.

More than 60 stalls and 40 employers, representing public, retail, manufacturing, construction, technical and caring sectors, were in attendance throughout the day. All were actively looking to fill current vacancies. The event resulted in:

• 3,000 application forms being handed out;
• 1,000 application forms being completed on the day;
• 100 interviews being arranged;
• 820 enquiries on training courses being sought; and
• 150 enquiries being made to support agencies.

Cllr Marilyn Bowman, Portfolio holder for Economic Development & Enterprise said:

"Evaluation forms completed on the day demonstrated a 92% satisfaction rate with the event and its usefulness. The feedback from employers was also extremely positive, some employers attended for the first time making a commitment to attend future events and to link into community based recruitment activities."

A new scheme which aims to help residents receiving incapacity benefit get back into work was also launched at the Carlisle Jobs Skills & Training Fair and resulted in 50 people requesting further information.

Cumbria County Council has put in more than £600,000 of its money into the countywide Return to Work scheme whilst the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has provided almost £1 million.

As part of the overall countywide £1.6 million Return to Work scheme, which will run between 2008 and 2010, the City Council have been chosen as the agency to deliver the Carlisle element – The Return to Work Carlisle project.

Managed by Carlisle City Council on behalf of Cumbria County Council, the employment initiative will provide tailored and personal support to residents who want to return to work but need help to upgrade their skills.

There are around 23,000 working age people claiming incapacity benefit in Cumbria including some 5,000 in the Carlisle area. The Return to Work Carlisle project will offer hundreds of claimants one-to-one advice and guidance and provide some vocational training.

County Cllr Tony Markley, the County Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration, says:

 "Unemployment might be low in Cumbria in general, but that masks significant pockets of worklessness, particularly amongst those people who have been on Incapacity Benefit for some time. This is a good example of public bodies co-operating for the benefit of local people.

Cumbria County Council has put in more than £600,000 of its own money whilst the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has put in almost a million pounds and the City Council is delivering this scheme in Carlisle to help people find work. Together we are determined to try and help as many people as we can who are able to work to find a job and increase their standard of living."

Routes To Work will deliver the Allerdale & Copeland scheme, Furness Enterprise will deliver the scheme in Barrow and Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency will provide it in Eden and South Lakeland.

Lis Smith, Director of Skills Policy at the NWDA, said:

"It can be difficult for those who have been out of work for a long time to get back into work but the NWDA is working hard to ensure that people in Cumbria can access the skills and advice they need in order to secure employment. Return to Work will provide invaluable one-to-one advice sessions and vocational training to improve employability and I am delighted to see that so many people in Carlisle have already been inspired by the scheme. I hope as the scheme rolls out across Cumbria many more people will access Return to Work and find long-term employment"

The City Council will build on their links with local employers to help residents get back into work and aims to follow on from the success of their other Carlisle Renaissance backed employment schemes, such as the Job Brokerage and Retail Academy initiatives. The Carlisle Jobs & Training Fair was organised by Carlisle City Council in partnership with Carlisle Renaissance, Cumbria County Council, Job Centre Plus, Northwest Regional Development Agency, Carlisle Housing Association and the CN Group Ltd.