GB Job Clubs

I think that the Government should be commended for the introduction of the Welfare Reform Bill in the incredibly short time of 9 months which must reflect on Iain Duncan Smith’s in depth work on this key policy area whilst in opposition with colleagues at the Centre for Social Justice.

Gavin Poole CSJ Executive Director said “This Bill should be welcomed right across the political spectrum. The CSJ believes it offers a once in a generation opportunity to overhaul a dysfunctional and chaotic benefits system that locks people in poverty and stifles aspiration. Most people now recognise that work is the best route out of poverty, but this is a sign that the Government will turn its commitment into action.”

How then will this affect Job Clubs?
At present we only serve a small percentage of the unemployed in our communities but this will change as the pressure to work increases. We are distinct from JC+ and DWP contractors in that attendance is not nor ever should be compulsory. This Bill comes into force in 2013 but I expect we will see a mood change from JC+ in the way they handle claims far before this deadline. The pressure on the unemployed to find work will be immense and this is where Job Clubs can really help. We don’t set targets we are here to help one another, encouragement and empowerment are key to the success of any Job Club. The Welfare Reform Bill specifically the ‘Work Programme’ is likely to lead to an influx of many more members to Job Clubs.

Make no mistake job seeking will be tough in the next few years with a limited number of jobs available and an increasing number of earnest jobseekers. A Job Club needs to be the ’safe place’ where members can vent their spleen as well as build one another up to face the rigours of the journey.

Chris Neal 18th February 2011
chris@gbjobclubs.org

Every day I speak to Job Club leaders. Some have been running successful and established groups for years; many are in the planning stage of their first Job Club. We always say that every Job Club is different – but they all work.

We talk programmes, partners, broadband, laptops, media relations, funding and the rest – convinced that we need all this stuff to run our Job Club.

Notice, we’re talking about Job Clubs… NOT Job Club members.

 This morning, I visited a Job Club which challenged me to think differently.

Edenbridge Job Club recently moved to a new (heated) venue. Set up nearly two years ago by GB Job Clubs CE Chris Neal, it’s not just the heating that surrounds you with warmth.

No computers. No literature. Not even a Sits Vac section of the local paper.  This was different.  A circle of comfortable chairs – tea and coffee kindly provided by the Children’s Centre organisers.  A conversation, gently led and moderated by Chris, 100% focussed on the members.  Frustrations vented, ideas shared, suggestions made, job-seeking campaigns planned, jokes exchanged and enthusiasm rekindled. All characterised by patience and politeness.

This was ALL about the members – the people we set out to support – the people who daily and monthly are encouraged – not to give up hope; but to value themselves – not for what they do; but for who they are – not as “jobless statistics”; but individuals worth caring about.

Now, you may be thinking this is all very well; but isn’t it all a bit impractical and starry-eyed?  It’s all very well sitting around discussing how we feel all day, Jane; but what about finding a job?  Well, Edenbridge Job Club has a great record of its members finding employment and recently celebrated their 50^th member going back to work.

Chris has written elsewhere of how this small, voluntary Job Club has contributed to the Exchequer.

I was struck, as always, by the sincerity and potential of our jobseekers and hope that Steve, Ben and Ernie will shortly be numbers 51, 52 & 53 on the Edenbridge Job Club Roll of Honour.

I have started to use Twitter to convey snippets of Job Club related news
if you want to pick up on these please ask to follow CJNeal

I would love to broadcast any news from other Job Clubs especially success stories people landing jobs etc tweet me or just email chris@gbjobclubs.org

Have a great week
Chris

In Church this morning we heard from several volunteers involved in social action. They make a difference in our community and contribute a tiny part of the estimated 72 million hours of volunteering for social initiatives undertaken by the Church in the UK. The value put on the contribution by the Church is estimated to be between £1.5Bn to £2Bn per annum and does not take into account voluntary work by Christians in the community that is not initiated by a Church. You can read the full Church Insight report here: http://www.churchinsight.com/Groups/149033/ChurchandCommunity.aspx
It is pretty impressive stuff and is by far the best example of ‘Big Society’ in action although it must be said volunteering is by no means the sole preserve of the Church as many of our Job Clubs prove.

Last week a senior Government Minister encapsulated the meaning of the term Big Society; Baroness Sayeeda Warsi said this “The big society is defined by many in this House as being what most of them have done for most of their lives. It is a volunteering, social action, philanthropic approach to life, but it is also about the opening up of public services to local control and devolution of power.”

David Cameron and his Ministers are under vociferous attack from both opposition and the media rubbishing Big Society and claiming that cuts will render the whole concept impotent. Many third sector figures have contributed to the ‘cuts kills volunteering’ lobby notably Dame Elisabeth Hoodless whose parting shot as she retires this week was to criticise the Government for a lack of strategy in addition to claiming that cuts will undermine the initiative.

This would be fair if Big Society belonged to David Cameron’s Government but it simply does not it belongs to us and its success is determined by us. For those of us who have been doing ‘Big Society’ for years the attack is unfair, unsubstantiated and fails to recognise the amazing work already taking place. It is heartening to have a Government who are willing to support our initiatives and it is up to us to suggest creative ways for them to provide help such as using the tax system to encourage investment in social enterprise.

Our charity GB Job Clubs aims to support the network of Job and Work Clubs that are springing up around the country, there are over 80 up and running and more than 30 in development. All that is needed for a community to have a Job Club is a venue, volunteers and some jobseekers. A lot of the clubs in the network are volunteer run and judging by the constant stream of requests for start up help there is a heartwarming number of people willing to volunteer.

Now this is where I get excited by what Big Society really means. In July 2009 I set up a Job Club in Edenbridge, Kent and have just celebrated our fiftieth member landing a job. Think of this in financial terms; the Centre for Social Justice reckon that being in work saves around £8500 per annum in benefits. Well bless me little old Edenbridge Job Club has saved the tax payer £425,000 and we are one of the smaller clubs in the network. What then is the value of 100 Job Clubs £40m £50m? What do they cost to run? Edenbridge, Oxted and Richmond are the three clubs I facilitate and they cost nothing as all three venues are provided free of charge by the Churches in Edenbridge and Oxted and Harlequins Rugby Club in Richmond. I have spent a few hundred pounds on flyers and these have been delivered by volunteers so again cost to tax payer a big fat zero ‘0′.

I know of dozens of fantastic volunteers up and down the country doing the same work not for any other reason than they have some time available and are willing to help people in their communities cope with unemployment. We have been conditioned by successive Governments to rely on the state. Big Government has told small society “You don’t need to love one another just pay us taxes and we will do it for you”. It hasn’t worked Job Centre Plus is ill equipped to deal with the needs of a genuine job seeker as Andrew Bence unpacked most effectively in this recent article in the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jan/29/join-the-job-club

We cannot afford to pay our taxes and expect the state to deal with all of society’s ills on our behalf in fact the opposite is true the more we sit back and allow them to try the more disengaged we become, social cohesion is lost because we no longer interact with one another. We leave it to a highly and probably over trained raft of public sector employees to attempt to deliver social action through a treacle sea of box ticking and regulation. Not their fault they are just doing their job and trying to make the best of the burdensome structure imposed from above. A job club run in the community for the community and by the community is unfettered and does not have to tick any boxes. The self help ethos we engender encourages empowerment which in turn raises self esteem, a little confidence can take someone a long way and invariably does!

I see Big Society as both an acceptance by David Cameron and a positive move to devolve power to us in the knowledge that Government may at last be able to trust us to help one another rather than continuing to impose top down bureaucratic, costly solutions that result in emasculation. The more we can do for each other in our own communities the more we can save ourselves. We are building on the solid foundations of the past to revitalise Big Society but the quid pro quo has to be lower taxes and a lot less red tape.

Chris Neal – 13th February 2011
chris@gbjobclubs.org
tel 0300 3300 150

I had the dubious pleasure of joining my co -Director Jane Gould this afternoon as she delivered our first Prisons workshop at Guys Marsh Prison. We met seven amazing guys who are all soon to be released. A day that started with trepidation and a certain unease on my part ended with the most wonderful sense of hope.

Our magnificent seven new friends agreed that having a criminal record all but extinguished opportunity yet as we talked it became clear that we were meeting with men of talent, ingenuity and a burning desire not to trouble the justice system again. However the system is stacked against them, when they are released they invariably end up in the same environment and circumstances that brought them to the attention of the authorities in the first place. How can we break the cycle, recidivism is now an expensive and burning issue that begs innovative solutions. We certainly don’t know all the answers however we choose to believe in people and their own ability to lift themselves above the malaise of circumstance that traps them in the revolving door.

Our approach is to follow up our pre release workshops by offering them the opportunity to meet a Jobseeker Buddy who will visit them before release and then see them on a weekly basis to help them find work once they are released. It will be difficult process for many but having someone who really takes an interest in you, someone who listens is a good way to start.

Currently most are released on a Friday with perhaps £100 in their pocket and no support so the inevitable happens, the money is spent quickly in the pub on booze some maybe on drugs and before long our friend now with no cash resorts to desperate measures. All the resolve we witnessed today has dissipated and they soon find themselves back inside. The Charity Caring for Ex Offenders meets the prisoner at the gates on release and helps them through the process of reintegration this is recognised as a major contributor to breaking the cycle.

Perhaps we can fan the glimmers of hope and aspiration we saw today into flames of achievement. Please contact us if you would like to join our volunteer Jobseeker Buddy team we still need some mentors for our magnificent Seven who will all soon be released into communities in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Are you able to employ an ex offender we have several painter/decorators, a bright guy with a real passion and aptitude for web design/IT and studying for MCSA qualification and a trainee accountant/bookkeeper. Your help could make a HUGE difference, thank you.

jane@gbjobclubs.org or chris@gbjobclubs.org

If your Job Club receives minimal or no funding and is run by unpaid volunteers you are eligible to put your name in the hat for a free laptop.

This will be wifi enabled and pre loaded with Microsoft’s Digital Literacy Curriculum to help your Job Club members acquire basic Computer skills.

Please send us your name, the name of your Job Club and contact details then tell us why a laptop would be useful to your Job Club and how it would be used in no more than 200 words. Please also state how much funding you receive (must be under £2000 per annum to qualify) or if you are unfunded. Send your entries by e-mail to chris@gbjobclubs.org to arrive no later than 25th March 2011 and good luck.

We will announce the winning Job Club on Thursday 31st March 2011.

Our decision will be final.