VOTE: Honour from Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin for dole queue's escapees
THE first young people to be rescued from the dole queue in North Lincolnshire have been recognised as ambassadors.
A total of 154 unemployed local men and women aged from 18 to 24 have been promised work by next March under the Government-backed Future Jobs Fund Scheme.
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Nic Dakin MP and North Lincolnshire Council leader Mark Kirk answers questions posed to them by nine youngsters at the Crosby Employment Bureau after they have found work through the Community Ambassadors Induction Programme.
Nine of the first 21 successful candidates went on parade yesterday to receive certificates from Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin after completing a two-week Ambassador Induction training course.
For the next six months, they will take on a variety of jobs and be paid at the rate of £650 per month.
If they make their mark in their new posts, they could be offered full-time employment after three months.
Among the ambassadors is Epworth teenager Matthew Billington, who has fulfilled his dream to get a start in the IT industry.
Mathew, 18, said: "Since leaving John Leggott College, Scunthorpe, last summer, I have been writing, on average, five applications a week for jobs with no success.
"They all say the same – they want people with experience. It's a vicious circle.
"It's frustrating having to sit at home when all you really want to do is get a job."
Matthew said that thanks to the Future Jobs Fund Scheme he had been taken on as a trainee-assistant at the Scunthorpe firm of Second Byte, repairing computers.
He said: "Thanks to Second Byte, I can now prove to prospective employers I have the experience. I am delighted."
Another ambassador is Kirsty Mackenzie-Lennox, 19, who left the town's Melior College in 2006.
Kirsty said: "I then went to North Lindsey College and qualified as a hairdressing in 2009.
"But I decided I wanted to do something better with my life and volunteered as an assistant leader at the Riddings Youth Centre.
"I have applied for lots of jobs, but nobody wants to know unless you have experience and skills.
"At times you lose your self-esteem.
"But thanks to the scheme I have now got a job as a marketing assistant with the local firm of South Bank Training and it's a lot more than £100 a fortnight on the dole."
North Lincolnshire Council leader Councillor Mark Kirk, who also met the successful candidates, said: "I'm pleased these young people have managed to secure places in the current climate.
"They have done well and I'm sure will continue to do well.
"The ambassador training is a key part to their development and will give them a good start in their careers."
5 Comments
by hazel, scunthorpe
Monday, August 02 2010, 11:25PM
“Surely if youngsters got working then they would be paying tax ect and they wouldnt need benifits so that money could pay pensioners back what they paid in when working.”
by Any Old Iron, North LIncolnshire
Monday, August 02 2010, 9:54PM
“"I fully agree with you Tammy, pensioners should leave work earlier" - until the last Government and in particular Gordon Brown when Chancellor messed about with the income final salary pension schemes earned early retirement was a reality for a lot of people. But since he removed the tax breaks from such schemes the whole picture as changed, these schemes have become a burden to employers and we now can't afford to have people retiring earlier - they need to work longer to pay for their own state pension!”
by hazel, scunthorpe
Monday, August 02 2010, 6:27PM
“I fully agree with you Tammy, pensioners should leave work earlier if anything thus leaving the jobs for school leavers, most people who have worked from leaving school as I did are pleased to leave work, especially those with manual jobs, in fact it would help with all the social problems we are having, the youngsters would be to tired to be out on the streets causing havoc.”
by Tammy, Jeapordy
Monday, August 02 2010, 1:34PM
“Forgot to add well done Con/dem for allowing pensioners to work till they drop , taking places the young could be taking. Pay a decent pension so they can retire .The ones who want or insist on working after 65 should do charity work .”
by Tammy, Jeapordy
Monday, August 02 2010, 1:28PM
“The key words here are " could be " . Just another con to massage figures . Where have all the week end jobs gone that students could get part time ? They are being filled by the Govt schemes to get the long term unemployed a current cv . LIES , LIES , AND MORE LIES .”