A VITAL frontline service in Okehampton helping the unemployed get back into work has been safeguarded for the next year.

The Friday work club at the Ockment Centre has been preserved for the next twelve months thanks to a donation of £8,440 from the Okehampton United Charity. The club provides a vital service for people each week to seek much needed support to help them get back to work.

The Learndirect Training services offered at the Ockment Centre by Westward Pathfinder were withdrawn in 2012 following severe government spending cuts. The charity rented the computer suite in the Ockment Centre to deliver a range of courses designed to help people with their employment prospects.

Among the services lost were open access IT training and Skills for Life, teaching people workplace skills and English and maths to GCSE level 2. The work club is all that remains of those services.

The club was originally set up to help people find work after the closures of Polestar and Robert Wiseman Dairies as many people came to the Ockment Centre looking for support. With demand still strong, the club's work is still important to many residents of the town.

Geoff Mills, manager of the club, goes the extra mile to provide the services necessary for each user. As well as helping people write CVs, the club also helps people search and apply for jobs online, rebuild their confidence through improving interview and telephone techniques, socialising and moral support.

Geoff gives up hours of his own free time to ensure the club functions to meet the needs of everyone who attends, carrying out paperwork and writing CVs in his spare time.

He said: 'There is still a definite need for the work club here in Okehampton. For many of our users, it is a confidence thing. Helping them update CVs for new qualifications or certi-ficates, downloading application forms off the internet, going onto the government website, it is lots of different things. People may not have the facility or ability to do it without the help of the club.'

The Friday work club is open every Friday, and is always happy to welcome new users. To find out more, call the Ockment Centre on 01837 53276.