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University partners Jobcentre Plus

We are the first UK University to sign a local employment partnership agreement with Jobcentre Plus.

We have followed Middlesbrough Council in signing this agreement - they were also the first Council to sign up with Jobcentre Plus, part of the Department for Work and Pensions. The agreement is designed to ensure we and our Students’ Union can support Jobcentre Plus in assisting those in the local community who have been unemployed for some time.

Community regeneration Juliet Amos, Director of Human Resources, said: ‘The whole idea of this agreement fits neatly with the University’s corporate social responsibility ethos. It helps the local community’s regeneration in its broadest sense. We’re already in discussions with Jobcentre Plus to pursue the idea of offering work placements or work trials for the unemployed and we’re looking to expand them more widely across the University.

‘These placements or trials can offer a rounded experience for someone to enable them to get back into the world of work. Initially this experience is likely to focus on the manual related roles, such as catering and cleaning but there is no reason why this cannot, in time, expand to other areas of work within the University.’

The work trials or placements at the University can be of different lengths, up to 12 weeks.

Successful partnership Egizia Crabbe, Tees Valley Director of the North East Employer Coalition, said: ‘I am delighted to have instigated this successful partnership which led to the signing of this agreement. As well as being a learning establishment of international renown, º£½ÇÖ±²¥ is also a major employer in Tees Valley. It is therefore very pleasing to see the University and its Students’ Union helping the local community by leading the way to providing employability opportunities for those people who are facing barriers to employment.’

For more details people should contact their local Jobcentre Plus office.

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