Pictured above: (l-r) Fiona Ballantyne, employment coach at PPDG, Claire Wixon, secretary to Cannock Chase MP Aidan Burley and Jonathan Skelly, PPDG centre manager at Cannock

An American-style Winnebago arrived in Staffordshire for a day offering people jobs advice and an opportunity to enhance their online skills and sign up to free computer courses.

The big blue bus was parked in Chadsmoor, near Cannock, on Tuesday (March 22). Kitted out with some of the latest learning equipment, the Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG) vehicle visited Moss Street car park and then Chadsmoor Community Infants and Nursery School in Kingsway.

Employment and training experts from the Cannock branch of PPDG, based in Mill Street, were on hand to sign people on to free online computer courses.

Staff handed out information on www.myguide.gov.uk - a website offering free and easy to use courses from the basics of getting started on a computer to using email and understanding how to shop online and pay bills. PPDG is working alongside Learndirect to offer people the opportunity to hone their online computer skills. The courses can be taken at home or at the PPDG training centre in Cannock.

Claire Wixon, secretary to Cannock Chase MP Aidan Burley, was also on hand to talk to Chadsmoor residents about unemployment and any community issues which may arise. Mr Burley has been working in partnership with PPDG to offer work placements at The Help Zone in High Green, Cannock.

The Help Zone offers an opportunity for constituents who have problems or need help to drop in for advice and support from Mr Burley and his staff.

Jonathan Skelly, PPDG centre manager at Cannock, said: "It is fantastic to get the Winnebago into the Chadsmoor community and show residents just what PPDG can do for them. We have been offering jobs advice and been signing people up to the free online courses.

"We have had a fantastic response from the people of Chadsmoor. We have been working closely with Claire Wixon and MP Aidan Burley and a number of our clients have gained invaluable work experience working at The Help Zone.

"The free computer courses are fantastic for people of all ages. Computers are now an integral part of life especially in the workplace and this is an opportunity for people to enhance their online computer skills."

Claire added: "Both Aidan and myself are fully committed to working in partnership with PPDG. I am standing as councillor in the Chadsmoor area at the next local elections and I wanted to get out into the community to talk about problems people in the community are facing such as unemployment. PPDG do an amazing job getting unemployed people in the Cannock Chase area back into work and we will continue our excellent relationship with them." 

For more information on any of PPDG's employment and training services at Cannock contact the centre on 01543 230030. The free computer courses can be found at www.myguide.gov.uk

PPDG's team of employment experts provide advice on benefits, confidence building, one-to-one support, CV and interview preparation as well as finding the right job or training course. In partnership with DWP, the Ministry of Justice and Jobcentre Plus, PPDG delivers a diverse range of employment and training initiatives including Flexible New Deal, Working Neighbourhoods Fund, Learndirect and many ESF funded programmes. More than 100,000 job seekers have been helped into sustained employment by the company since the projects began.  It has trained 130,000 people in vocational skills, and over 175,000 people have benefitted from professional information, advice and guidance services.