Supporting people facing unemployment in Gloucestershire

Author

Jason Dunsford, Head of Employment and Skills, Gloucestershire Gateway Trust

Unemployment figures in the news recently do not make happy reading. There are various ways to measure the number of people out of work but by whichever metric you choose, it is increasing. In March this year there were 7,890 people registered as unemployed in Gloucestershire. In October this number had more than doubled to 17,890, curiously an increase of exactly 10,000 people[1]. There are many more people furloughed, underemployed, ineligible for benefits, or facing redundancy not yet counted in the stats.
 
What this means is that it is likely that a family member, a friend, or someone from your neighbourhood is facing unemployment. At Gloucestershire Gateway Trust we are calling on everyone to #supporteachother during these challenging months ahead. One of the ways you can do that is to share information about the range of support on offer to those unemployed or facing redundancy.
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[1] https://inform.gloucestershire.gov.uk/economy/unemployment/

Gloucestershire Gateway Trust is proud to work alongside Gloucestershire County Council and nearly 50 community partners to deliver the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Project across the county. GEM has been providing individual tailored support to #supportlocalpeople overcome barriers to employment and get into or closer to work for over four years. Prior to lockdown, we had supported someone into work every three days.
 
GEM is open to any adult who is unemployed, or someone aged 16 or 17 who is not accessing any education or training. Anyone interested in learning more can contact us via our website, Facebook or Twitter pages.
 
If you’re not quite ready to sign up formally to GEM, then why not take a look at our #GEMonline timetable. We have opened this up to all of the community so you are welcome to register on any session that would interest you, from tips on how to job search efficiently through to advice from a recruitment expert on acing your next interview.

There is other support out there including: careers advice from the National Careers Service and training opportunities from Adult Education in Gloucestershire. Not to mention the imminent arrival of Kickstart vacancies, some with our community partners, which will provide paid jobs to young unemployed people, already disproportionately affected by this recession. The list is too long for this blog but luckily GFirst LEP have recently launched the Gloucestershire Skills Portal which is a fantastic resource to bookmark or add to your favourites.
 
Please also check out the GEM Christmas Craft Fair which will also be live on Facebook. This will showcase some of our GEM participants’ products as they move forward on their journey to self-employment. We’re supporting GFirst LEP’s Think Gloucestershire campaign and encourage everyone to #supportlocalbusiness. So please avoid buying Christmas gifts on any websites named after a rainforest and come and see what our creative and aspirational GEMs have to offer!
 
The community response during 2020 has been incredible. Now let’s keep it going and ensure everyone who needs a helping hand to find employment learns about the support that is available.