New opportunities have been opened to people in Brentwood by the town's Job Centre Plus following an open day to raise awareness of its work.

One of the biggest problems the Brentwood branch suffers from is many people who might benefit from its services don't know it's there.

So to try and overcome this the team based in Fairfield Road held their first open day and were delighted with its success.

A spokesman for the Job Centre Plus said: "We were aware that our offices are off the beaten track and that many members of the general public tend to think we are only here for those who are unemployed to sign on and collect their benefits.

"We saw holding this open day as an opportunity to publicise the breadth and nature of the services that we are able to provide, either directly, or through our extensive network of community organisations."

Based on the feedback the job centre team received from visitors they are now planning future events form the future which might include employer days.

The open day was supported by representatives from Brentwood Council responsible for housing, council tax and housing needs, advisory service Connexions, skills training provider SEETEC and training provider SEAL as well as people from the armed forces, Brentwood library and others.

Published Tuesday September 14, 2004

Brought to you by the Brentwood Gazette