CHILDREN'S charity Barnardo’s is helping unemployed young people across the Black Country get on the career ladder.

The charity's work programme team have been preparing people for the world of work by helping with CVs, interview skills, and running weekly job sessions to give people advice and support when applying for vacancies.

Last month alone the team helped 13 people secure jobs with local firms and they are now appealing to other businesses to come forward and offer work placements or jobs to people aged between 18 and 24, who have been unemployed for more than six months.

Helen Miles from Barnardo’s said: “It’s all about taking the young people on a journey. Identifying what barriers there may be that are stopping them from getting on, plugging any gaps and providing the right motivation that builds their confidence and allows them to secure employment.

“Often the young people are in desperate need of work experience to clinch success in a job interview – so we are always looking to build new links with local businesses to give them a chance.

“It’s a win win for local firms – we can save them time and money by screening and only putting forward candidates that fulfil the requirements of any particular role.

"By working with Barnardo’s as a socially responsible provider, it can also help companies put something back into their local community.”

Any company that would like to find out more should email helen.miles2@barnardos.org.uk or call 0121 5505271.