Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner visited a Leek-based charity on Thursday (20th), as part of his ‘Visibility Day’ in the Staffordshire Moorlands.
Matthew Ellis dropped-in on a Work Club, hosted by the Staffordshire Moorlands branch of Support Staffordshire, aiming to get local, unemployed people into work by enhancing their professional skillset.
The charity also supports ex-offenders, having 16 identified prolific offenders referred to them for support since its establishment in 2012.
Mr Ellis, who started as PCC in November 2012, said: “This has been one of many stops today, but not one I’ll forget in a hurry. The work being done here is phenomenal and the results speak for themselves.
“This service contributes so much to the local community, not only to the individuals they support, but to the wider-population, as it helps stimulate the local economy.”
From April 2013 – January 2014, 80 people found employment through the Work Clubs. In total, the amount of State money saved was £755,872.
Jo Phillips, Deputy Chief of Support Staffordshire (Staffordshire Moorlands) said: “The Staffordshire Moorlands Work Clubs are the only place in the Moorlands where any local person can come along and get free, friendly and informed support to find work.
“We were delighted to show Matthew what partnership work can achieve – and hope that we can encourage other local businesses to come forward and talk to us about how we can support them in recruiting local people into their vacancies and investing together in our local communities.”
Run in partnership between Support Staffordshire (Staffordshire Moorlands) and Your Moorlands, the Work Clubs have supported over 200 local people into employment over the last two years.
The Work Clubs are weekly sessions held throughout the year in Leek, Biddulph and Cheadle.
For more information on Support Staffordshire call 0300 777 1207 or email info@supportstaffordshire.org.uk
