‘Transforming lives through employability’ event open to jobseekers

The open event at Green Park Road, Bath, BA1 1XE runs from 11am to 3pm. Jobseekers will be able to meet Salvation Army employment experts as well as representatives from a range of other organisations who can help them skill up and find and maintain work:

• Bath College, ClickStart and Curo who offer free courses
• Cool Ventures who offer self-employment support
• DWP who will provide advice on Disability Confident and Access to Work
• Future Bright who offer employability support for people already in work
• Bath City Farm who will highlight volunteering placements and community groups
• Genesis Trust who offer homelessness support and volunteering opportunities

The Salvation Army team will help jobseekers to access ilearn and even complete courses on the day.

The Salvation Army’s Employment Plus service supports people into quality work, not just any job. Employment Plus helps people who face the biggest barriers to employment such as a lack of up to-to date skills, those who have been unable to search for work due to health problems, disability, or homelessness.

A third of Employment Plus clients are classed in labour force statistics* as economically inactive but want a job. This means that they want to find work but they are not able to apply for jobs for reasons that include caring responsibilities and poor physical or mental.

Those classed as economically inactive are often not eligible for Government support to find work. In Bath and North East Somerset local authority area, there are some 3,700 people who are classed as economically inactive but want a job.

Sara Douglas-Moore, The Salvation Army’s Employment Plus Assistant Regional Manager said: “We see thousands of people who are desperate to work but are being held back by the job market for reasons that are very often beyond their control. People who have had to stop work to care for loved ones, people who have had their own long term health problems and people trying to rebuild their lives after being homeless. People can find that the job market has moved on while they have been ill or caring for others.

“We know that people who have the greatest barriers to finding and keeping work need specialist, long-term, person-centred support from services such as Employment Plus. People often come to us because there is no other support available to them.

“Our event on June 28 is a celebration of the lives transformed through employability, as well as an opportunity for local jobseekers to drop in and find out what specialist support is available to them. Everyone is welcome.”

The day will also see the publication of new analysis by The Salvation Army on economic inactivity and ‘real unemployment’ data.

In the past 12 months, Employment Plus has helped 4,911 people across the UK and Ireland with job support. This cohort has completed 6,249 milestones – such as building a new CV, completing a training course or a work experience placement - with 1,156 of these jobseekers gaining employment.

The specialist service is delivered from 296 Salvation Army churches, centres and hostels for people who are homeless. The church and charity is also working in seven prisons, helping individuals to increase their employability chances on release with 18 successful employment outcomes in the last year.

For more information about the Bath drop-in event, contact Sara Douglas-Moore: [email protected]