A high-profile careers centre for adults and young people opens in St Helens town centre later this month to support the town’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Ways to Work centre, located in the former Hays Travel unit in Church Square Shopping Centre, will help local residents access employment, education, and training opportunities to make their career plans a reality. Staff from St Helens Borough Council Ways to Work programme will work alongside Career Coaches from Career Connect and Jobcentre Plus advisers to offer mentoring, coaching, advice and guidance, and job search support.
Since 2016 St Helens Ways to Work has helped more than 1,200 people into employment, training, and education – 230 of these during the coronavirus pandemic. Over the past year, Career Connect’s Career Coaches have helped reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training (or NEET) by 36%, to the lowest levels ever seen in St Helens.
Made possible by Liverpool City Region Town Centre Funding to help local businesses and the economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic, the Ways to Work centre will provide drop-in employment advice, including CV writing tips and interview preparation, as well as access to paid work experience, full and part-time vacancies – some for immediate start positions.
This new town centre base will make it much easier for residents to access career support facilities. The council will also provide a similar facility in autumn for drop-in and community outreach sessions in Earlestown.
Ste Bedson, St Helens Team Leader for Career Connect said: “We have a long and rewarding partnership with the Ways to Work team. Putting our Career Coaches, JobCentre Plus and Ways to Work in the same town centre venue allows easy access to all our services for people across St Helens. Together we aim to drive forward social mobility and help young people achieve their career aims by accessing and succeeding in education, employment and training.”
The Ways to Work centre will officially open on 30 June 2021 with services running Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Career Connect’s service will start from 5 July 2021.
