History of Jobs West
Jobs West was set up by Thelma Gorton in 1974 at Scarborough as "The Place". She worked with George Davis, and some fellow volunteers, using their own money to begin providing a service where young people could feel safe, get personal support and take control of their lives.
When our voluntary committee secured government funding 4 years later, through the Community Youth Support Scheme (CYSS), we employed 2 paid staff.
Over the past 30 years, much has changed in the way we secure income and sponsorship but we have retained our core values and our personalised way of assisting our clients. Our visionary Directors encourage and support the social entrepreneurial approach of our managers to expand the scope of our services, through initiatives such as the new Skill Centre in Malaga. This growth allows us to provide a broad range of free community and personal development services that are funded by Jobs West.
Today we assist all people using exactly the same process begun by Thelma and her colleagues:
- We provide a warm, informal, friendly environment where people feel welcome;
- We use a structured process where people build their self esteem and confidence;
- We provide counselling, develop individual career plans, organise appropriate skills training and work experience, broker placements with suitable employers, negotiate on the job training (primarily though traineeships), and provide ongoing post placement support and follow-up.
Jobs West has experienced major growth over the last 30 years and now employs many staff, runs a wide variety of community development projects ranging from career counselling to vocational training and provides quality services to over 3,000 people per year. All this while still maintaining the original ethos that Thelma Gorton instilled so many years ago.