Unemployed Volunteer Helps Others Seek Work Too
Communities First volunteer Gareth Lloyd is using his skills to help other people to find work while he looks for a job himself.
Gareth, who has worked in admin, so impressed his JobCentre adviser with the quality of his job searches that she suggested he volunteered with Communities First.
Over the last couple of years Gareth, who lives in Swansea Road, Llanelli, has worked as a volunteer with two Goals Clubs in Felinfoel Community Resource Centre and Llanelli Library.
He helps club customers with their CVs, job searches, applications and with advice on using a computer.
He said: “My adviser in the JobCentre was telling me about digital inclusion and saying that with my skills in IT, admin and on computers I could help people look for work.
“It was because I was a job seeker and she was looking at my job searches. She could see from my applications that my organisational skills were high.
“She asked would I like to volunteer for Communities First helping people with job searches, applications and using Universal Jobmatch. I thought it was a great opportunity as I’d learned a lot whilst being a job seeker and having been on different computer courses and work placements when I was not working.”
Gareth’s role at the Goals Club includes helping people to record the information on the Department of Works and Pensions, Universal Jobmatch page. The aim is to make sure job seekers’ efforts are properly recorded and to help them conduct job searches more effectively. He can also help them improve their IT skills.
But while Gareth helps others he does not neglect his own job searching at the Goals Club.
He said: “I’ve worked in admin jobs, and as a receptionist and administrator. I’m looking for work primarily in the admin/IT sector. I’ve been doing a lot with computers and I’ve done most applications, and worked with spreadsheets, databases, presentations and helping customers to tailor their CVs on word documents.
“I love volunteering at Communities First and it is developing my customer service skills. I find it very rewarding.”
Communities First Financial Inclusion Worker Laura Edwards, who runs the Goals Club, said it was there to help and support people with their job searches, job applications, creating and updating their CVs, and with basic IT skills.
People could be referred voluntarily, by the JobCentre, The Hub and other organisations, and people who are not job seekers can come to learn computer skills.
“Gareth has been volunteering with us for three years and helps everyone else as well as looking for work himself. He supports two of our Goals Clubs, and his support is greatly appreciated by everyone. It is great because he can use his skills to help other people but can also use the Club to further his own efforts to find work.”
Communities First has four weekly Goals Clubs, Llanelli Library on Tuesdays from 10am-12pm, Morfa Learning Centre on Tuesdays from 1.30-3pm, Pantyffynnon Partnership Centre on Wednesdays from 1.30-3pm, and Felinfoel Community Resource Centre on Fridays from 10am-12pm.
Carmarthenshire County Council was awarded funding from the Welsh Government to be the Lead Delivery Body to manage the new Carmarthenshire Communities First Cluster.
The Communities First programme works towards Tackling Poverty through a focus on Healthy, Prosperous and Learning Communities, creating opportunities for residents to gain skills, access employment and become healthier. Carmarthenshire Communities First works across 14 areas in Carmarthenshire with a population of approximately 22,000. The areas include Pantyffynnon, Bigyn, Felinfoel, Glanymor/Tyisha, Hengoed, Lliedi, Llwynhendy and Trimsaran.
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