JOB seekers will be able to undertake work experience and courses when a social enterprise launches in Harrow next month.

South Harrow resident John David is a director of Amnick Social Enterprise which will seek to match the unemployed with employers offering unpaid on-the-job training and work experience.

The 48-year-old transport engineer and consultant said: “A social enterprise like this is very much needed as we have many people sitting around doing nothing. If we give them something useful to do and a new direction to follow, they can do very well for themselves.

“I’m designing a complete programme for graduates that will help them gain proper work experience with projects that we’ve designed, offering them work experience in sales, administration, customer care and marketing.

“For that to happen we need businesses and organisations to offer us space to run that from. We’ve got no funding and everybody will have to support themselves, although I want to stress it’s not about cheap or free labour.”

Mr David is looking for job seekers who can commit to a minimum of six to 10 hours a week, as well as older people who have traditional skills who wish to pass them to the next generation.

Amnick Social Enterprise ran a three-month pilot at Harrow College last summer, starting off with five graduates in May, then engaging with 57 by the end of the trial.

Mr David said: “These are people who had been out of work for a long time and by working with us, we could give them experience and something to put on their CV.

“They were designing marketing strategies for a charity and leading on community projects and developing sales campaigns to try to get people into volunteering. Twenty-two of the graduates actually got work in the end.”

A job club will be held at All Saints’ Church in Uxbridge Road, Harrow Weald, in the third week of February where visitors can receive help with writing a CV, interview technique, and refining job-hunting skills.

Brunel University economics graduate Sheyi Opemuyi, 23, of Hillingdon, took part in the pilot learning about project management and putting bids together for funding and writing a business plan.

She said: “I’m currently working at Reed.co.uk, the online job board. My only previous working experience was at Costa Coffee so I didn’t have any office experience but during my interview I was able to speak about my time and responsibilities at Amnick.”

l To contact Amnick Social Enterprise, email basanti@amnick.com or visit www.amnickse.co.uk.