News > Fresh start for two unemployed high fliers
Posted on 27 July 2010
The Future Jobs Fund (FJF) is having a major impact on young unemployed people in Stoke-on-Trent as they successfully turn their lives around.
Two young men - both long-term unemployed - are this week celebrating new careers thanks to the Future Jobs Fund which is run by the City Council’s JET (Jobs, Enterprise, Training) team and JobCentre Plus.
As two of the first people to have undertaken the six month Future Jobs Fund training placements with Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Tom Parker, of Stockton Brook, and Edward Langdon, of Stone, have both gone on to great things.
Tom (22) is beginning a career in graphic design with Festival Park based Live Information while Edward (19) is to become a trainee pilot with the RAF - beating odds of 1000:1 to be accepted.
Both are certain that the experience offered by the FJF was the key that unlocked the door to their new careers.
The Future Jobs Fund is a scheme which places young unemployed people into 26-week work placements with a company, voluntary body or public sector organisation. In North Staffordshire trainees are then given further support by JET which helps them to find full-time employment.
The scheme is on target to create well over 1,000 job opportunities for local young people – many of which could lead to permanent employment.
Around 500 young people have already been given employment opportunities and the scheme will continue until March 2011, when the Government will introduce a new strategy to change the way it tackles long term unemployment through the Work Programme.
Coun Mervin Smith, Portfolio Holder for City Developments, which includes Employment and Skills, said: “Tom and Edward are a credit to the scheme. Often young unemployed people get a raw deal – people assume that they don’t want to work – but that’s not the case. This city is brimming with bright young people who just need a chance to get on in life. Many of them just need support to find the right opportunities.
“The Future Jobs Fund is proving highly successful because partners like Jet, JobCentre Plus and employers are committed to giving the next generation the best chance of success. They recognise that the prosperity of this region lies in a well-trained and motivated workforce of the future.”
The scheme’s success was summed up by Edward who said: “If I had gone into my RAF interview and said I’m unemployed and on Jobseekers I would not have made it. Being able to say I have taken active steps to get work made all the difference to me being accepted. It would have been an impossible barrier that I couldn’t have overcome without the Future Jobs Fund experience.”
Last updated 08/02/2012