New skills training for Cromer people

Copyright NNDC

Improving local workforce's retail skills

People in Cromer are invited to a special open day next week to hear about training courses that have been specifically designed to improve their skills and help them return to work.

Organised and hosted by the new Cromer 'Learning for Life' project, the free open day will be held at the Cliftonville Hotel on Tuesday 23 April, from 11am to 3pm.

The open day, which will include displays by Jobcentreplus, Yarmouth College, the Norfolk Adult Education Service, and the Prince's Trust, will introduce two main training courses:

• a two-week full-time course to build confidence and improve CV writing and job interview skills. This course will be run by Yarmouth College for Jobcentreplus, and will be free to unemployed people who live in the Cromer Town or Suffield Park wards or to those from a wider area who have been out of work over six months.

• a 'Return to Work' course to improve confidence and basic skills. Run by Adult Education, the course will be held on five consecutive Tuesdays, starting on 30 April. Each session will last five hours.

"There are several new retail developments in North Norfolk, including the Argos store that is now being built in Cromer and will soon be looking to employ some 40 people," said John Morgan, the recently-appointed Project Manager for Cromer Learning for Life. "Currently there is a local skills shortage for the retail sector, but the two courses will be supporting and supplementing an initiative by Jobcentreplus to help unemployed people find work in the retail sector. Our aim is to address the skills shortage and to increase the experience and qualifications of the local workforce."

Cromer Learning for Life is a two-year project that aims to deliver a co-ordinated programme of personal development and skills training for people who are not in regular employment and live in the Cromer Town and Suffield Park wards. The project, which is partly funded by the European Social Fund, the East of England Development Agency and North Norfolk District Council, has set a target to help 334 local people during its lifetime.

For more information about the Open Day and the training courses, or to find out more about Cromer Learning for Life, please call John Morgan on 01263 516243, or Cromer Jobcentre on 01263 543400.