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Driving force for jobs
The Government's Future Jobs Fund provides temporary employment for long-term unemployed people. Hull City Council has secured £2.4m from the fund to create 360 local jobs.
After suffering an unprovoked assault in a Hull street, Bill Murray felt his career was over.
The injuries he sustained left him with epilepsy and his worsened health meant he was unable to keep his job as a warehouse forklift truck driver.
Bill (pictured above) spent a total of eight years without paid employment.
He also developed a fear of going out and spent many days at home surrounded by four walls.
However, he eventually found the will to fight the effects of the attack.
Voluntary work gave him an opportunity to put his skills and experience to good use, and after volunteering with the Shopmobility scooter hire service in Princes Quay he took a voluntary position with Travel Extra, a social enterprise company based within the Community Junction at Paragon Interchange.
The role led to a full-time, paid job.
Mobility creates prosperity
Travel Extra provides a mobility scooter hire service for Hull city centre and complements the service provided by Shopmobility in Princes Quay.
Opened last summer, it is conveniently located for disabled passengers travelling into Hull by bus or train.
It serves customers from Hull and the East Riding as well as those from across the country who visit Hull to go shopping, see friends and family, and visit city centre attractions.
Around 150 scooters are hired out each month, and for just £2 a day customers can use them for up to six hours (between 10am and 4pm) to travel anywhere in an area covering St Stephen's shopping centre, Ferensway, the Museums Quarter, The Deep, Hull Arena, Kingston Retail Park, and Hull Royal Infirmary.
As well as publicising the service and keeping membership records up to date, Bill shows customers how to operate the scooters – which travel at a safe 4mph – and oversees the maintenance of the battery-powered machines, ensuring they are fully recharged after every hire.
Bill has served customers aged from 25 to 89 who are given the mobility they need to visit the city centre.
"I spent 20 years in warehousing and I was determined to get back into paid employment," says Bill.
"Community Junction has given me that opportunity."
Positive future
The council's Future Jobs Fund money will be used to support voluntary and community-based organisations, and social enterprises like Travel Extra, to create jobs for people experiencing long-term unemployment.
All the jobs will be full-time and last six months to renew the skills, confidence and career prospects of the workers taken on.
The fund pays the wages and National Insurance contributions of the workers, and employers receive an £80-per-week placement administration and management fee for 26 weeks.
The fee will cover the costs of payroll, supervision, tools, transport and personal protective equipment.
Jobs in administration, computers, construction, retail, and horticulture are among the types of work expected to be created through the fund.
Travel Extra is one of many social enterprises in Hull which is using the fund to expand its workforce.
This month it will launch a free walk-in information service where people can ask about the wide range of support services, and local attractions in the city.
"We can't give advice but we can point people in the right direction," says Bill.
And people who find themselves in long-term unemployment, as Bill once was, can apply for jobs created by the Future Jobs Fund across Hull as they become available and advertised through Jobcentre Plus.
"The funding is good news for the city's unemployed," says Bob Ferraby of Hull City Council's Regional Development Service.
"It will assist us greatly in continuing the work that the council, and its partners, have already undertaken to create community-based employment opportunities."
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For more information on training and employment opportunities offered through Hull City Council's Grow programme visit www.growinhull.co.uk or phone 300 300.
Community Junction is a combination of transport, community, voluntary and charitable organisations all housed under one roof at the city's Paragon railway station.
Created inside the former ticket office and entrance to the station, Community Junction gives a new lease of life to the Grade 2 listed building whilst protecting the city's history and heritage.
For more information phone Sue Balthazar on 212 832 or visit www.travelextra.org.uk
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