AFTER six months in operation the Beaminster Job Club is claiming success for school leavers and job seekers who have found employment, work experience or who are taking up more training.

There are now 14 volunteers with a wealth of experience who help out at the weekly club at the Yarn Barton Centre in Fleet Street on a Wednesday from 12.30-2.30pm.

The volunteers come from a wide variety of industries and professions from farming, mechanics, engineers, politics, media, advertising and the armed forces.

Volunteer Christian Tyler, who helped found the club with Dorset county councillor Rebecca Knox, said: “The aim of the club is to be one of the first points of contact for school leavers and people who have been made redundant in the Beaminster area.

“Although we keep up to date with local vacancies we are not an agency. We aim to offer advice, encouragement and to give people the confidence to find the right job, training or set up their own business.

“Our volunteers are people of wide experience. They run, or have run businesses, worked in public services, the military, the media and politics. They have sometimes been unemployed themselves. So they know what you need in order to have the best chance of getting a job, and can pass on good advice: how to write a CV, which websites to look at, how to behave at interviews, and various ways of getting on the job ladder.

“It is a free service run by seasoned volunteers which does what the government’s Job Centres cannot do – offer advice, guidance, encouragement and a sympathetic ear.”

Coun Knox said she and Mr Tyler started the club because they were concerned with the Bridport Job Centre not open all the time it was difficult to get to the Weymouth one.

Magna Housing Association has been supporting the club with advertising in its resident magazine and social media sites to help raise the profile and awareness of the service.

A spokesman for Magna said: “Job clubs are on the increase throughout the country and the aim is to encourage people to seek advice and gain confidence to apply for a job or new career.

“The club has been working closely with the local school pupils have the opportunity over the lunch period to attend the sessions to seek advice and mentoring.”

The club has been running six months and has already had a number of success stories with people obtaining positions, gaining work experience and enrolling on training courses.