On yer bike! Moped plan to help jobless in Stoke-on-Trent
JOBSEEKERS could be lent mopeds to help them get to work.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has secured £20,000 of EU cash for an extension to its £2 million Home to Work initiative.
-
Jobseekers in Stoke-on-Trent could soon be using moped's to find work.
The scheme aims to help unemployed people who face transport problems after being offered a job or training.
Mopeds could soon be available to people who live too far from work to walk, and where there are no public transport links. Applicants are currently lent push bikes or bus passes, depending on their needs.
Would you like a professional to review your CV and give you some constructive feedback?
contact BlueSky CVs for an honest review
Terms: 1 per person
Contact: 01538 710408
Valid until: Friday, May 24 2013
Councillor Ruth Rosenau, cabinet member for regeneration, planning and transportation, hopes expanding the scheme to include a six-month loan of a moped will help more people get back into work.
She said: "Job creation and economic growth are two of the key aims we set out to achieve when we launched the Mandate for Change.
"By helping people travel to their employment, through Home to Work, we are delivering on these pledges."
She added: "We are hopeful that extending the Home to Work initiative to include the six-month loan of mopeds will help people to take their first step on the career ladder or return to employment."
Home to Work was set up in 2011, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.
An additional £20,000 has been granted by the ERDF to fund the mopeds but it will go ahead only if a suitable company bids for the contract to lend the mopeds to the jobseekers.
To be eligible for assistance people must live in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, be applying for a job, have a job or a job offer in North Staffordshire and be aged 16 or over.
Nearly 500 people are benefiting, including 388 who have a bus pass, 95 who share taxis and three who have been lent a bike.
Simon Harris, chief executive of Stoke-on-Trent CAB, welcomed the extension. He said: "Transport problems can be an issue for many people who are trying to get into work, particularly those who work shifts and find public transport is not running at the time they work.
"Also, many jobs are in out-of-town business parks, which can be difficult to get to if you don't have your own vehicle."
But Gill Brown, chief executive of social charity Brighter Futures, does not believe lack of transport is a major cause of unemployment in Stoke-on-Trent.
She said: "Any cost-effective scheme which helps people get into work has to be a good thing. Stoke-on-Trent does have lower rates of car ownership than other parts of the country, and public transport can be poor here as well.
Also, there often aren't very good transport links between where people live and where the jobs are, so this scheme could help with that. But whether lack of transport is as big a problem as the lack of jobs, I don't know. What we really need is a boost in private investment."
31 Comments
View all
by Johntoe
Monday, March 18 2013, 12:58AM
“@ LongTallSarah
wow now that IS strange..... OK who are these people and what have they done with the real sentinel commenter's? I am frightened now, it just doesn't feel right having green arrows 3 days after I posted,... I will have a little lie down I think”
by kevbagnall
Saturday, March 16 2013, 8:35PM
“here's an idea,DO SOMETHING THAT HELPS PEOPLE THAT DO WORK, my son is in college, has a job passed his cbt,driving test with pass plus, he saved hard to buy his own first car last september but guess what. the cost of insurance is so high he had to sell his car without even driving it. lets stuff the workers again and reward the non working, and before i hear " i cant get a job" " i want to work but there's no jobs",,,,,, sign on an agency instead of the dole and live off what you can afford to buy not expecting every body else to provide cash for your sky tv and i phones etc, i would gladly pay a bit more tax if it whent directly to a hard working, low income family, we should be supporting the few young ones that are working but cant afford insurance, i might give up work my self cos the way this country is going were stuffed now and will be more stuffed in the future, might aswell start teaching kids the fine art of benefit claiming, how to walk with a walking stick when you dont actually need one, how to make it to the off licence just after your breakfast has gone down and finally be able to walk to the school to pick your kids up in your pj's.....is it me?????????”
by stokeandvale
Friday, March 15 2013, 8:24PM
“"ANOTHER Brilliant idea from this Council"...”
by sikaPetaHi
Friday, March 15 2013, 6:20PM
“this is quite a comical story,mopeds for work OMG it would help a bit if there was work in the first place, i'm not just going to blame cameron but over the yrs the government have eroded this island so badly its a shadow of its former self...
as for 'the_Tool' (appropriate name) 71 pound over 25's get how can they afford drink & drugs? you silly plank also its full off land mines or sanctions cameron calls them to strip your pittance even more,,,get a life you idiot...99% on benefits wish there was work language like that is senseless!!!!”
by pj123
Friday, March 15 2013, 3:43PM
“"Its all the Tory's fault"?
Nothing to do with the fact that this is Labour's idea.
I just wonder if they have figured the brown envelopes into the equasion.
These fools have made Stoke a laughing stock.”
by hasod
Friday, March 15 2013, 3:02PM
“Are these Councillors real or what . Wonder when they will live in the real world ?”
by hasod
Friday, March 15 2013, 3:00PM
“I bet those bikes wont be there for long , scrambling comes to mind and perhaps a bit of off road racing ..Why not get them 1200cc's and be done with it ..”
by Sandytek
Friday, March 15 2013, 12:47PM
“FFDD1 You are wrong if you look into it you will see that everyone riding a moped or bike has to have a CBT (compulsory basic training) see huey_hog's post.
Johntoe People with protective clothing, licence etc will usually have their own bike so will not require a 50CC moped.
Don't get me wrong - I think it is a good idea to get more people on two wheels, it is the answer to congestion on our roads. Using a pushbike is ok but if you have to travel distance every day then a motorised two wheel vehicle is better.”
by LongTallSarah
Friday, March 15 2013, 12:47PM
“There's definitely something wrong with this site today Johntoe - there's 5 green arrows on your last post!!”
by jokerjohnny
Friday, March 15 2013, 12:34PM
“Email the attorney general to get this perverts sentence increased http://tinyurl.com/atpmj99”