Jody Watts – Careers Assistant – Future Jobs Fund

Jody Watts was unemployed for 10 months before he was offered the post of Careers Assistant within the Future Jobs Fund team; he started the post of the 22nd February 2010. Before Jody was unemployed he used to work as Business Development Coordinator at Learning Works (East Anglia) Ltd Learndirect Centre in Wisbech which is the former Sencia Ltd centres but under new management.

As a Careers Assistant Jody will be responsible for assisting advisors at the Job Centre with helping candidates choose jobs and fill in applications and to provide guidance and support. “I am really excited about starting my new job and being able to be a part of the team that is helping people back into work. I am also looking forward to gaining new skills and experiences that will hopefully help me progress in a job field that suits me best.”

“Since I have started I particularly enjoyed being given the responsibility of redesigning the spreadsheet we use. I have also really enjoyed telephoning clients to offer them a position, having been successful with their interviews. When you get to hear first hand how happy they are at getting back into work, its makes you feel like your apart of something amazing.”

When we asked Jody about how he has found his time within the team so far this is what he had to say “I am really enjoying the job so far, and have gained many new skills already and find myself learning all the time which has been something I have really loved being apart of a team that is helping people gain work experience.”

“The team I work with is great, everyone is so down to earth but still very professional in what they do, the whole team has great sense of humour and are all very friendly and helpful, which helped me to settle in quickly.”

“The Future Jobs Fund is a great scheme which helps candidates to gain vital experience which is needed in the modern work environment. I would recommend that anyone who is eligible to apply for jobs through this scheme should find more out now, either at the Job Centre Plus or the Future Jobs Fund shop in town.”

Shelley Gray – Library Assistant – PCC Library

Shelley Gray was unemployed for 13 months before getting the opportunity to get back into work as a Library Assistant at the Peterborough City Council Broadway Library on the 01-03-10.

As a Library Assistant Shelley’s roles will involve her to stock take, work on customer services desk, work with cash management and general admin duties within the Library. “Getting this opportunity from the Future Jobs Fund will help me broaden my skills and give me the chance to gain many new experiences which will help me back into sustainable employment.”

“Since I have been here I have settled in really well and I have enjoyed working with all the different types of people from a variety of backgrounds. I would love to still be here after my six month placement has finished.”

Since Shelley has been at the Library she has “Enjoyed all the jobs have I been assigned, but I have particularly enjoyed working with children’s events as they have given me new experiences, that I have appreciated being a part of.”
“I have also been apart of the team that has worked on trying to promote the Library and the services that we provide, which I loved being apart of, as this has given me a whole new view of the services that are available.”

“Gurjit Kaur is my line manager who has helped me get into a routine of the how the library works and how to get the best results from my work, and I owe a lot to Gurjit already. I would like to add that all the Library staff has been very welcoming and friendly, which has helped me settle very quickly into their team.”

When asked about the Future Jobs Fund scheme. Shelley had this to say “The Future Jobs Fund is an amazing innovative project that I think will benefit the future employment economy. The project is also a beneficial program that DOES help people back into employment, which will improve their future employment prospects.”

Tim Martin - Head of PR and Communications at Opportunity Peterborough

Tim Martin is Head of PR and Communications at Opportunity Peterborough (OP) the organisation that is working to promote the city and deliver sustainable economic development across Peterborough. OP has so far recruited two members to the team from the Future Jobs Fund.

The scheme has been of great benefit to OP providing talented new staff to the organisation. The new recruits have certainly been thrown in at the deep end as they are already working on and delivering projects for the organisation and the city. The scheme not only allows exposure to “real world” projects but is also helping provide them with new and invaluable skills that can be used in their future careers.

In the short time that we have had staff from the FJF they have worked on writing case studies, press releases, assisted with writing copy for the website and working on some of the contracts that OP are currently managing. I would have no hesitation in recommending that young people find out about the scheme and the opportunities that it has to offer.

Nadine Tatlow – Churches together – Events & Volunteer Co-ordinator

Nadine Tatlow was unemployed for 7 months before getting back into work as an Events & Volunteer Co-ordinator for Churches together through the Future Jobs Fund.

As an Events & Volunteer Co-ordinator Nadine will be organising events, co-ordinating volunteers at events and workshops, undertaking general administrative duties and offering advice at the new Future Jobs Fund shop. Nadine ‘’cannot wait to be involved in this great project. It’s so exciting and impressive and I am just so thrilled to be a part of it all.’’

Since starting Nadine has enjoyed taking part in many tasks and events, such as the Sports Relief Day that the Future Jobs Fund team all took part in. “Hoola-hooping for Sports Relief was great fun. I really enjoyed the day as everybody made me feel like part of a team that is helping people in so many ways.’’ She also enjoyed ‘‘my meeting with Sue from the GPP. It was really good to participate in my first meeting I had attended on my own. I found myself learning so much from the experience which was great.’’

When we asked Nadine how she has found her time on the Future Jobs Fund scheme so far she said ‘’Exciting. It’s such a great project to be a part of. Since I've been here everyone has been so friendly and welcoming, it has made me feel like I’ve been here for years, the team make me feel like the sky is the limit and its always such a joy to come into work.’’

‘’The people I work with have been great. It is supervision with no limits. Everyone and everything in the project is so positive and driven that anything seems possible.’’

When asked about how the role will help her in the future Nadine remarked “the Future Jobs Fund is absolutely fantastic. I was beginning to think I would never get back into work again, let alone get a great opportunity like I have now. They are simply excellent and I would highly recommend them to anyone unemployed and on Job Seekers.’’

Chloe Harris - Peterborough Women’s Enterprise Centre - Administrator Assistant/Event co-ordinator.

I was unemployed for 5 months before getting the position of Administrator Assistant/Event co-ordinator at the Peterborough Women’s Enterprise Centre.
I heard about the Future Job Fund through a friend who attended the job centre and saw it advertised.

I’m now on my fourth week in my new job role and am thoroughly enjoying it.
I’ve was out work for 5 months before hearing about this scheme. It’s been nice to get back into working in a job that suits me.

My job role involves various different duties such as helping organise events we run, promoting the business on the street, taking/making phone calls, keeping track of client records on the spreadsheet database, running the website and stock taking.

The most interesting thing I’ve done so far was on my first week when we had our Launch party. I really enjoyed getting involved in all the preparation for it and helping run it as well. It was a great experience as over 100 city dignitaries attended and was supported by big press coverage.

I’ve been here for 4 weeks and have been assisting with the event co-ordinating and administration. Georgette Rouncefield, the Head of Peterborough women’s enterprise centre has given me a range of exciting projects to work on, such as helping out a lot during our launch party, playing a big part in our clothes exchange room. I’ve also done some of the courses we run in the centre such as body language and building confidence which I think will give me a greater depth of experience to add to my CV and its been hugely beneficial for me getting back into full time work and has given me chances to do relevant courses to further my knowledge in my career.

The people I work with are all kind, lovely people who I get on well with. All of them have been a great help since I’ve been here and made me feel like part of the team.

The Future Jobs Fund team are all very friendly and helpful people. They’ve been there to offer me useful advice and guidance into finding this job which I’m very happy with. Even now they keep in touch with me and assist with any queries or concerns I have. I don’t think people are aware of how much support in finding a job through the Future Job Fund there is. I would encourage anybody out of work to get in touch with The Future Job Fund to find out more.

Meet Glen Curoopen from the Job Centre Plus

Glen Curoopen is a customer services advisor at the Jobcentre; Glen works closely with the people who are eligible for the Future Jobs Fund scheme. Part of his role is to help the customers with selecting from the Future Jobs Fund posts and advising customers with filling in applications.

‘’I have found the Future Jobs Fund scheme to be of a valuable service for me and the personal advisors as we now have something different to offer the customers between 18-24 years of age’’

‘’The Future Jobs Fund has the ability to offer jobs which gives valuable experience to customers. This in turn, can enhance a customer’s career goal or even offer our customers the opportunity of a change of career. This will help them gain new skills that are needed to progress further into gaining permanent employment’’

‘’the Future job fund is great educational experience for the customers as he/she will learn about themselves, gain many skills and get six months paid work experience. They will also be able to gain the confidence that they might not have had due to constant rejection when applying for jobs, so hopefully this project will give them the platform to get back into full time employment’’

‘’From my experience when a customer does gain a job interview via this project and they let me know, I see a difference in a customer’s altitude as they become more positive about applying for other jobs etc as they begin to believe there is some hope, the majority that do manage to get a Future Jobs Fund job are all extremely happy to be given an opportunity to work and learn. We have also had some ex-offenders apply for vacancies under the Future Job Fund scheme and they are surprised but grateful of being offer jobs as they is a mistaken belief that because of a criminal record, they will not ever gain employment or even get back into employment.

‘’The Jobcentre is looking forward to working with and alongside the Future Jobs Fund team in phase two. This will help many more of our customers gain some of the great opportunities available through the Future Jobs Fund scheme’’

Meet Jane Cameron from the Job Centre Plus

Jane Cameron is the Advisory Services Manager at the Jobcentre plus. As part of Jane’s role she works closely with the unemployed who are 16-24 years old.

‘’Since the Future Jobs Fund project started it has helped us at the Jobcentre focus in more on helping the younger customers into work, before this project we lacked a variety of opportunities within their age bracket’’


‘’The Future Jobs Fund is a fantastic opportunity for young people to get valuable work experience. The roles offered are very high quality and the feedback from individuals has been excellent’’
When asked about the project being beneficial to the unemployed, Jane said ‘’ This project is extremely beneficial as some of the younger people have never worked before,so having six months experience to put on there CV will go a long way to helping them gain permanent employment’’

‘’My advisors have found this project a real positive experience as they have found the roles on offer a fantastic opportunity for their customers’’