The Future Jobs Fund was started in late 2009 and was open to any person who has been out of work for longer than 12 months. The Future Jobs Fund committed 8 million pounds to create 1253 jobs across the Tees Valley area.

The primary objective for this scheme was to aim it at young people that needed help getting back into work as with the current financial climate this has made it harder for these young people to get employed and use their potential to the full in a working atmosphere.

This Scheme isn’t only open to young people, anyone who has been on jobseekers for over a year is eligible to be able to apply for the jobs on the Future Jobs Fund list.

The first jobs on the scheme were through Middlesbrough borough council but in a short space of time many companies had jumped on the band wagon and started to offer potential employment.

The scheme helped unemployed individuals by offering them guaranteed interviews for the jobs they would like to apply for, giving them experience in an interview, and helping them with getting employed.

One of the first people employed in this area through the Future Jobs Fund was James Hayes, 20 years old from Linthorpe in Middlesbrough.

He was employed by Honeywell media as an Administration Assistant but also a trainee journalist, James said: “This is an excellent opportunity for me and I am very grateful to Honeywell media to give me this chance of employment”.

James was taken on a 12 month contract with Honeywell media at the beginning of the year. “This scheme has opened a new door in my career and I am looking forwards to getting my teeth stuck into a new challenge at Honeywell media” James said.

James is now working at Teesside University for Honeywell media were he is getting trained in writing for a local newspaper and also putting his knowledge of administration into practice.