Agenda item

Camberley Job Club

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation from Janet Ward in respect of the work and services provided by Camberley Job Club                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

Camberley Job Club had the goal of helping the long and short term unemployed back to work. The Job Club aimed to achieve this by rebuilding clients’ confidence and identifying market relevant skills to employers. The Job Club worked with clients to develop their CVs, covering letters and interview technique as well as by providing support to organise job searches and give appraisals of client’s career direction. During the 2020 calendar year the Job Club saw 152 clients, of which 21 clients gained some form of work and 29 which were referred onto other partners.

 

The Job Club worked with school leavers to over 65s to find paid employment, as well as part-time and voluntary work. Moreover clients included those from a range of ethnicities and many whom English wasn’t their first language.

 

After 5 weeks of working with the Job Club, clients attended a 6 week review, with 2 Job Club advisors; and worked together to set 3 clear objectives. After 11 weeks of engaging with the Job Club, advisers met with the clients to assess progress towards their 3 set objectives and consideration of other opportunities towards their job search. In addition to these job search-focused services, the Job Club also provided workshops assisted by partners, on Debt management benefits and universal credit; and wellbeing and health and nutrition.

 

Arising from Members’ questions and comments the following points were noted:

 

·         The Job Club encouraged all its clients to make best use of online jobsites and to engage with recruitment agencies. The organisation also encouraged its clients to bolster their CVs with volunteering placements; and had previously partnered with Frimley Park Hospital to place volunteers.

·         The Job Club was funded to the sum of £16,000 a year by the Council, whom the organisation received the majority of its funding from. It was opined that this equated to approximately £105 per client seen, which was high in comparison to other organisations which also received a Council revenue grant. On the other hand it was important to temper expectations as the Job Club’s services were provided by one paid administrator and 12 volunteers.

·         On an average day, pre-pandemic, the Job-Club saw between 18-20 clients at its in person service at High Cross Church.

·         Many of the Job Club’s clients were referred via Job Centre Plus or had heard about the service via the Job Club’s regular newsletter.

·         The demand for the Job Club’s services were going to get progressively higher as the economic downturn continued and it was important that the Job Club had a certain amount of resilience in its model to cope with the increased demand.

 

The Committee thanked Janet for her insightful presentation.

 

 

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