Thousands attend north and east Manchester jobs event

More than 2,500 people attended a jobs fair at the City of Manchester Stadium last week, with over 50 organisations in attendance offering a wide range of opportunities.

The 'JobCity' event, one of the largest ever for north and east Manchester, was organised in partnership with Manchester City Council and New East Manchester and brought together a host of both public and private sector employers including Manchester City Council, HM Prison Service, Kellogg's, the NHS, British Gas and the Armed Forces, along with training agencies and volunteer groups.

More than 250 jobs were on offer on the day from 24 employers, including both skilled and unskilled roles, as well as a host of volunteering opportunities, advice from careers advisors on training, volunteering, completing application forms and next steps to gaining employment.

The jobs fair is part of a city-wide strategy to bring together partners to support local residents into employment and reflects the range of job and training opportunities available across both north and east Manchester.

It is also part of a Manchester City Council led initiative called 'Helping Hands' that aims to help both residents and businesses with the effects of the current economic downturn.

Councillor Sue Murphy, Manchester City Council's Executive Member for Employment and Skills, says: "There was a huge turnout to this event. It was an opportunity for people not in employment to find out what is on offer in north and east Manchester and how they can access these opportunities."

Organisations in attendance on the day are expecting to fill all the vacancies over the next few weeks as a direct result of the jobs fair.

As well as the paid job vacancies on offer there were also numerous volunteer and training opportunities available, with 'Experience Volunteering,' the north and east Manchester volunteer and placement training service signing up almost 250 people on the day.

Carol Bartram, Head of Economic Development at New East Manchester, says: "We had a fantastic response on the day with 2,500 local people coming along to talk to the employers who attended. We, together with Work Solutions and Jobcentre Plus, were also able to provide jobseekers with career, training and business advice and our team was on hand to help residents with job applications.
"Supporting residents into work is an important part of the work we do to bring long term benefits to local people. It's very satisfying to know we are making a difference to people's lives."

Lynne Spofforth, Relationship Manager at The Co-operative Financial Services, says: This was a well organised event with some high quality candidates showing a keen interest in the opportunities available."

Roger Broadbent, Vice Chair of the East Manchester Dyslexia Association, says: "This was an extremely successful event. We had a stall and were so pleased to have taken part. We registered over 100 people, most of whom want a free screening and others who are interested in volunteering for us. We will now be able to help a lot of people start to address their issues around dyslexia."

For further information about employment and training opportunities, visit Manchester City Council's Helping Hands website at www.manchester.gov.uk/helpinghands