Project just the job to get residents working
FIVE Rossendale residents are celebrating getting new jobs despite the coronavirus crisis.
Since lockdown, one person had got a job as a welder, another is a sales executive, one is a shop assistant and a fourth is a support worker. A fifth is a driver for Lancashire County Council.
They found their new careers through Rossendale Works, a Rossendale Council Project, run in partnership with Active Lancashire and funded by European Structural and Investment Fund.
Project manager Paul Becouarn said: “I have been running Rossendale Works by holding initial Zoom meetings with people who are ready for work and then arranging to meet them face-to-face, at a safe distance wearing a face mask, at their address for one-to-one support.
“When paperwork needs signing it has been delivered at a safe distance, with me leaving it on a drive or path for the participant to sign and then I collect the papers.”
Rossendale Council leader Coun Alyson Barnes said: “This project is amazing and has continued throughout the pandemic to support participants, help them see their potential and get back into work.
“Where Rossendale leads, others will follow.”
On September 3, Rossendale Works meetings at The Boo, including yoga classes, and the breakfast club at Trinity Baptist Church in Bacup, are scheduled to reopen.
Rossendale Works was initially set up in 2018 as a 12-month trial in partnership with Active Lancashire.
It was so successful that the DWP funded a second year. The latest funding has secured its future until 2022.