A FORMER pit village is benefitting from over £9,000 in funding earmarked to help people in ex-coalfield communities.

Horden Youth Club and Community Centre is using the money to help expand the local job club.

The funds, which total £9,104, are part of the Coalfields Community Investment Programme, which is delivered by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.

Centre manager Stephen Clark: “A combination of high competition for jobs and a general lack of qualifications has created the perfect storm for unemployment. Providing advice and qualifications can drastically improve the prospects of those who attend the job clubs.”

Training, advice and support provided by the job club has seen eight local residents gain employment, 15 undertake a basic food hygiene course, ten complete a first aid course and a further ten complete a qualification in English and Maths.

Basic computing skills are also provided by the community centre which ensures residents, who are often not computer literate, are able to apply for jobs online update their CVs and have access to the online benefits platform.

As one of the top three per cent most deprived areas in the country the Coalfield Regeneration Trust has identified Horden as a priority for action.

The trust’s head of operations, Andy Lock, said: “Horden Youth Club and Community Centre is pivotal to restoring Horden to the thriving town it once was.

“Unemployment is an ongoing issue in former mining towns and villages and Horden is no exception.”