STEELWORKERS forced to rebuild their lives after a company’s collapse were given the chance to launch new careers.

A number of ex-SSI UK staff yesterday visited Newcastle Airport in an event organised by aviation bosses and the MFC Foundation Team Talk project.

The day was designed to give an insight into potential job opportunities at the airport and included a teambuilding exercise at the site’s fire training academy.

The collapse of Redcar-based SSI, which saw it fall into liquidation 18 months ago, left more than 2,000 directly-employed staff without work and affected hundreds more in the supply chain.

The SSI Taskforce, set up in the aftermath of the company’s demise, has already helped a considerable number of people back into work, training or self-employment but some former staff have also received help from Team Talk.

Created by Middlesbrough FC players in response to the closure of SSI, it holds weekly ‘boot room’ sessions wherein officials help ex-staff recover from the pain of redundancy, offering social support and events and skills workshops to help them find new work.

Claire Streeter, social inclusion co-ordinator for the MFC Foundation, told The Northern Echo that the scheme has a number of objectives.

She said: “These people have been the main income earners all their lives, so these events are all about getting them out and lifting their spirits.

“This is all about showing them different things they may not have thought about or considered.

Graeme Mason, the airport’s planning and corporate affairs director, said the site was delighted to help project bosses continue their work, revealing they could benefit from jobs such as security and car parking at the base.

He added: “The south of the region is important to us; this is a demonstration of that.

“We hope the day gave an insight into the airport and what the potential opportunities are here. The airport is a big job generator, with just under 3,500 posts, and the event was all about helping them understand how they might fit into operations.”

Mr Mason added any former steelworkers interested in applying for jobs at the airport would go through its usual recruitment process.

Team Talk was funded by the proceeds of a players’ calendar organised and instigated by Middlesbrough’s left-back George Friend.