The Bolton College Jobs and Skills Fair 2014 is happening this week
After three successful years, Bolton’s award-winning Jobs & Skills Fair – a free event which is held in partnership with Bolton College, Bolton Council, Bolton at Home, Job Centre Plus and the University of Bolton – is back this week to help the town’s unemployed find work.
The Fair scored its hat-trick last year as it was hailed as a huge success and came out on top in the Community category of the Bolton & Bury Business Awards 2013. A major contributor to this prestigious accolade was the College’s decision to enlist the expert help of leading positive change specialist Mike Finnigan and Adam Corbally, former finalist of BBC1’s The Apprentice. Adam is back again this year to offer advice on both finding the right job and starting your own business, in addition to industry expert Paul Rigby, of Forrest, who will be speaking about jobs in the Construction sector.
Self-starter Adam says: “Finding a job that you enjoy doing is key to a happy life and everyone needs guidance, especially when looking for a new career. I’ve benefited greatly from the advice I’ve received throughout my career, and I’m looking forward to returning to Bolton and giving some of my own to the town’s proactive jobseekers!”
This year more than 80 companies will be exhibiting at the employers’ marketplace on the day, promoting over 1,000 job vacancies and volunteering opportunities. There will also be a range of ‘Have a Go’ activities to take part in – plus demonstrations showcasing desirable industry skills – covering areas such as Catering, Hair & Beauty, Forensic Science and the Motor Vehicle trade, in addition to various employability workshops.
Marie Gilluley, Principal and CEO of Bolton College, commented: “Finding a job is the next step for most of our learners, as well as being a priority for thousands of people across Bolton. The aim of the Jobs & Skills Fair is to equip jobseekers with the practical knowledge they need to successfully apply for jobs or progress into learning. The event has been a great success since its inauguration, and I’m sure that this year will be no exception.”
The Fair was originally set up in 2011 to tackle unemployment in the Bolton area, while also promoting access to learning and training. The Fair comes at just the right time this year as momentum is building
according to government figures published last month, which showed that Bolton had the joint highest reduction of jobseekers in Greater Manchester for the period of January 2014 to August 2014. Bolton also out-performed other statistical neighbours and the regional and national rates.
Bolton Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, Cllr Kate Lewis, said: “This is a great event for people to find out about jobs, apprenticeship and training opportunities. We are committed together with our partners to get people into work, training and education. Local employers will be advertising vacancies and I would urge people to come along and find out about the latest opportunities, and what help and support is on offer.”
Local MPs Julie Hilling and David Crausby will both be attending this year’s Fair to show their support to local jobseekers.
The valuable day won’t end there; the Fair will finish at 3pm, to be immediately followed by Futures4me – an event hosting over 40 exhibitors from local sixth forms, training providers and employers, looking to give school leavers essential careers advice and guidance with regards to their future careers.
