Future Jobs Fund Store Up Experience

The first company to take on Future Jobs Fund employees in the south of England have been further schooling their recruits in the ways of business this week, as the group took a visit to see how Sainsbury’s in Great Yarmouth is run.

First Move Furnishaid Ltd now have twelve Future Jobs Fund recruits – whose jobs run for six months, fully subsidised at the minimum wage for 25 hours per week - offering them valuable work experience and a regular income.

Aged between 19 and 55, they had previously been out of work and had been claiming Jobseekers Allowance for six months to a year until Norfolk County Council, with the support of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, secured financial backing from the Department for Work and Pensions for around 1300 jobs for Norfolk, with hundreds in the Great Yarmouth area.

First Move Furnishaid have operated since 1992, originally providing support for people who are unemployed and unwaged, before expanding the charity in 1997 to also include furniture and white goods recycling.

The charity collects good condition furniture and white goods for free in the Great Yarmouth area, before housing them at their base at Artillery Square on Nelson Road Central. Residents, who can prove they are on benefit, then have the opportunity to purchase those goods, including delivery, at a low cost.

Sainsbury’s Store Manager, Mark Collins, welcomed the group to the Saint Nicholas Road store on Wednesday morning.  After a hearty breakfast in the café they were taken behind the scenes in the store, where they were able to sample products including those in the bakery department.  Mark then explained how the business is run on a day to day basis.

At the end of the visit the future job fund recruits took part in a short quiz, answering questions on the many aspects of the store they had seen. The winner was presented with a prize by Mark.

Whilst the group have already gained vital employment experience with the charity, the visit provided them with the knowledge of how operations work within a different workplace – something that many of them will be seeking after their six month spell comes to an end.

Patricia Page, Borough Councillor and Chairman of First Move Furnishaid Ltd, said:

“Future Jobs Fund has provided our recruits with a real chance to get back into work and help shape themselves a career.

“Their confidence has blossomed and they have been a real credit to our business.

“All our recruits value their job and each one of them is doing some form of training in order to be as employable as possible for when their spell with us comes to an end.

“This visit was an additional part of their employment development, and I’m really thankful for Sainsbury’s – who have given them a really useful insight into the operations of another workplace, further setting them up for their next step.”