Bristol Mayor marks Employability Day with The Salvation Arm

BRISTOL Mayor Marvin Rees marked Employability Day 2019 on Friday 28 June by visiting a centre in the city that supports people to find work.

Employment Plus is a programme run by The Salvation Army’s Bristol Citadel for local residents at its hall on 6 Ashley Road in Montpelier.

People who visit Employment Plus can learn skills to help them find work such as writing a CV. They can also get support with tasks such as filling in application forms and using computers to search for work. And Employment Plus’s team of experts can organise work placements for them so that they get first-hand experience of going to work to build up their confidence.

Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees said: 

“Connecting people to jobs and opportunity is at the heart of our ambition for reducing social and economic isolation in the city and programmes like Employment Plus are vital in assisting those without easy access to that support. Employability Day is a great chance to showcase such work and we are delighted to see this example of an organisation contributing a vital service in Bristol.’’ 

Employability Days 2019 is a UK-wide celebration for organisations that help people into work and The Salvation Army took part by showcasing its Employment Plus programme.

Rebecca Keating, Director of The Salvation Army’s employment services said: 

“It was a pleasure to meet Mayor Marvin Rees on Employability Day today and to introduce him to the Employment Plus programme at the Bristol Citadel hall.

“Employment Plus takes a flexible and approach to helping people who are looking for work to achieve their goal and provides a service that is tailored to each individual’s specific needs and circumstances.

“Our experience is that people who are looking for work need to be able to access the right support they need at the time that they need it. But often we find that people who are in the job market are not able to find that support, but our team of employment experts is here to do just that.”

During his visit to The Salvation Army’s Bristol Citadel, Mayor Marvin Rees was given a tour of the Employment Plus programme.

He spoke to staff and discussed various issues that affect the people of Bristol and the different support services The Salvation Army provides to the local community.

There was also a conversation about the future of the European Social Fund - which funds many of The Salvation Army’s Employment Plus programmes around the UK, after 2020.