London SE1 community website

Olympic job opportunities for Southwark residents

London SE1 website team

More than 450 unemployed Londoners will receive free training, land a job or a volunteer position as a result of Peabody Trust’s new Sporting Chance programme.

Sporting Chance will give unemployed people aged 16 to 65 the opportunity to get a job via the provision of free training and personal employment support from Peabody Trust.

Southwark will directly benefit from the programme via two of Peabody's eight participating centres – the Engine Room on Old Kent Road and Hugh Astor Thresholds Centre on Blackfriars Road.

"By providing free skills and employment support, we hope to unite communities and raise local spirits,” explains Peabody' Yasmin Hussain.

Individuals will be able to access free IT training, qualifications, and job-search support at a range of local centres, which offer a secure environment for those taking their first steps into the workforce.

The scheme has received £490,000 of funding from the Mayor's London Development Agency (LDA) for the next three years as part of the LDA Opportunities fund.

Using the job opportunities of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012, Sporting Chance will help train people for work and provide job matching for unemployed residents in Hackney, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

Peabody Trust will work in partnership with Football for Fun and Community Based Housing Association (CBHA) to deliver Sporting Chance.

Football for Fun will hold local sporting events for unemployed people, giving all the chance to sign up to the scheme on-site. CBHA will also conduct community outreach work and employment support.

"We want local people to benefit from the huge employment opportunities that the 2012 Games will bring to the area," says the LDA's Rebecca Shepheard.

"With events based at the heart of the community, the Sporting Chance initiative will highlight these opportunities whilst at the same time providing the support and training needed to get local people back into work."

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