Government employment initiatives are not proving particularly effective for people aged over 50. The number of people finding jobs through New Deal 50 Plus has halved since 2003 and the Pathways to Work programme for people with health problems is less successful for over-50s than other adults.

A new joint project between Age Concern England and Age Concern St Helens, and funded by Abbey Charitable Trust, has helped 61% back into work, and a further 25% are still undertaking various activities to maximise their employment opportunities – such as training, exploring self employment or doing voluntary work.

The year-long pilot project was launched in October 2005 in St Helens. A key part of its aim is to link employers, education providers and employees. WorkWise identifies work opportunities within local businesses, provides the appropriate training and helps job seekers with essential skills. This has resulted in a good skills match and long-term retention.

Sally Cowing, WorkWise Development Worker, St Helens, said:

“We are really proud that we have helped so many people get back into work. Every individual story illustrates the value that one-to-one support and targeted services can have for older job seekers. We hope to continue this scheme in the future, and we hope that the Government and potential funders will sit up and take note.”

Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, said:

“The phenomenal success of this scheme shows how important targeted support can be for older job seekers. Older workers are often ignored by Government schemes, which are not always effective anyway.

“This scheme shows that targeted help to get older job seekers back in work do work, and we hope we can extend this pilot in order to help the million underemployed people over 50.”

The new figures follow a recent report from Age Concern England “Not ready for the scrapheap: looking for work after 50”, which identified the importance of one to one support for individuals, a targeted approach for over 50s and action to change the attitudes of employers.

Age Concern is looking for partners for WorkWise projects across the UK. For more information contact Harry Glavan on 020 8765 7562.

Notes for editors

Age Concern will mark the success of its unique WorkWise initiative today (Thursday 23rd November 2006) with a celebration event at Age Concern St Helens. Local employers PC World and A1 Nursing will receive awards to recognise their commitment to the initiative and to developing age diversity in the workplace whilst four other personal attainment awards will be presented to participants from the project.

A new book, Your Rights Working after 50: A guide to your employment options, is the essential guide for anyone over 50, in work, leaving work, or looking for work. It brings together everything you need to know about age discrimination, redundancy, retirement planning, self-employment, job hunting and support. It is written by two experts, Susie Munro and Andrew Harrop. It will be launched on 28th September. To order a copy call 0870 44 22 120, or go to the Age Concern Bookshop.

Case studies are available:

One older worker who has been helped is Cath – the 2006 Workwise Employee of the Year. She is 59 and is now a Customer Advisor at PC World. Cath joined WorkWise in January 2006 and attended the Age Concern St Helens IT Training Course achieving her ICT e-Citizen Entry Level 3 Certificate.

Cath, who joined WorkWise in January 2006, had been unemployed for twelve months. She is very positive about PC World and describes them as a “friendly and flexible company” and that she has “been given loads of encouragement and support”.

Her employer, PC World St Helens will also be presented 2006 WorkWise Age Diversity Employer Award. PC World St Helens contacted WorkWise in August 2005, and offered the opportunity of a position that they felt would be appropriate for a WorkWise client.