A4e - Blogpost 1

Last week I attended a course with Action for employment (A4e), one of the agencies the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) uses to try to help jobseekers into employment.

A4e had a torrid time in 2012; you can read all about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A4e . Despite this, it continues to run courses, particularly for those on Work Programme which shirkers like me, who have been signing on for Jobseekers Allowance for more than a year, have to attend.

This is my fourth brush with the organisation. I voluntarily attended two courses in London last year at different centres. Both were very good, the trainers were motivating and practical, the centres comfortable and accessible. For me, it was mostly just nice to chew the fat with other jobseekers; looking for work is a lonely business, whether you do it from home, an internet cafe or a local library, so it's a morale boost to communicate with folks in the same situation.

Still unable to find employment, my contact with A4e became formal (polite-speak for enforced) in November.  That said, I waited five weeks for my first appointment, so busy are they in my local office. For those of you who haven't encountered me before, I recently 'bounced-back' from London to the village in Lincolnshire in which I grew up. The nearest point of civilisation is Grantham, a town in which jobs are pretty scarce in the current economic climate.

So, my first appointment was an interview in which the difficulty in getting me back to work, and the support I will need, was assessed. Despite suffering from depression and anxiety, which manifest themselves as and when they please, although much less since I haven't been living alone, I have been deemed pretty much ready to exit the employment starting blocks without too much help.

On attending a four-day course entitled 'Silver Event including the local labour market', it became evident why pretty quickly...

See A4e - Blogpost 2