Just the job… to help you find work

Date article online: 15/05/2008

A new information pack is being launched to help people across the Rochdale borough improve their skills and make job hunting easier.

Produced by the council along with partners like Job Centre Plus, the ‘Just the Job’ pack has tips on where to find jobs, how to be successful at interviews, and how to get specialist support – for example if you’re under 19, over 50, have a disbility or long-term illness or if English isn’t your first language.

Falinge in the spotlight The pack comes just a week after the national media spotlight again fell on the Falinge area. GMTV were in Rochdale to report on figures released earlier in the year showing that the area had the highest proportion of working age people claiming out-of-work benefits of any Super Output Area in the country.

Following the media coverage, Rochdale MP Paul Rowen is to meet with council representatives early next week to review what work has been going on to help and support residents find employment. The group will also look at what else can be done to improve life for people living in Lower Falinge.

Recent and current initiatives in the area include:

• Opportunity Knocks, where teams have visited 500 homes on the estate during the first two weeks of May. Almost 200 people were given advice and put in touch with support services including employment, health and children’s services.
• Jobcentre Plus outreach bus visiting the area to provide employment advice.
  In2Work, a project aiming to get people off health related benefits and into work – hundreds of people have already been helped by the scheme.
• Employment Links training bursary, a scheme which enables residents to pay for the training they need to get a job. Support is also provided during the job application process and more than a thousand local people have been helped into work by the project in the last 2 years.
• Spotlight, an evidence–led process which involving a range of stakeholders to give us evidence and information on key issues to be tackled such as unemployment, health and community safety.

Councillor Mohammad Sharif, cabinet member for regeneration and cohesion, said: “There are many good projects already helping residents from Lower Falinge to get off benefits and into work but we’re aware that there is still a lot more that we could do. We’ve organised a session for Monday with Paul Rowen as well as representatives from our Economic Affairs and Neighbourhood Renewal teams, plus key partners like Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, Jobcentre Plus and the NHS Primary Care Trust. We’ll be reviewing what’s currently happening to tackle the issues and looking at how we can develop and progress positive initiatives in the ward."

Councillor Sharif added: “We hope that we will receive support from central Government to be able to try out innovative techniques to provide even more help for local unemployed people – both in Falinge and elsewhere in the borough.”

Copies of the new ‘Just the Job’ pack will be available at the Rochdale Skills and Learning Fair at the Town Hall on Monday 19 May 2008. You can also get one from the Employment Links centre on Drake Street, Rochdale or by calling 01706 646471.