People urged to step forward to support employment initiative

Residents and business leaders in the Church Stretton area are being asked if they can share their time, knowledge and skills to help people into work.

Volunteers are needed to mentor people who are unemployed, and businesses are asked if they can offer any work experience placements or positions.

The call for people to step forward has been made by partners including Shropshire Council, Jobcentre Plus, Shropshire Housing Group and South Shropshire Furniture Scheme.

Representatives from the partners have been brought together into one group to provide more opportunities for people in the Church Stretton area to benefit from work experience and find employment.

The group is co-ordinating a network of mentors in Church Stretton to provide additional, focused support, and is asking local employers if they can provide work experience placements, mock interviews, opportunities for apprentices and other work opportunities.  The group also runs weekly meetings at the Mayfair Centre in the town to support people who are out of work.

In its first six weeks, 10 out of 34 people were helped to get jobs through the scheme.

The initiative is part of ‘local commissioning’ work in Church Stretton which is exploring how services can be better shaped for the community.

Lee Chapman, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for local commissioning in the south of the county, said:

“We are bringing together our resources and expertise with the aim of providing focused support to reduce unemployment, and in turn strengthen the local economy.

“The scheme is proving to be effective – we want to maintain this momentum and help more people gain work.  If anyone can help with offering their time to mentor an individual, has vacancies in their business or can offer work experience opportunities, we would urge them to get in contact.”

Free training is given to mentors to support them in their role.  For more details about playing a part in the local commissioning employment scheme in Church Stretton, contact Rebecca Knight on 07951 603350 or email rebecca.knight@shropshire.gov.uk.

For more information on local commissioning work, go to shropshire.gov.uk/commissioning.