Help for Residents

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Jobs and Training

Jobcentre Plus provides information on what to expect from your employer and what effect redundancy has on making a claim for benefit. Jobcentre Plus will give you details of where to find extra information and help on redundancy issues, making a claim for benefit and finding a new job.

To find out more visit the Jobcentre Plus website. If you are a member of a trade union, you can also get help, advice and support from it if you have concerns about redundancy.

A wealth of training support and advice both for local employers and job seekers.

If you need advice about learning new skills or changing your career, you can get face-to-face support from a Nextstep adviser by calling 0800 0641 481, or speak to the Careers Advice Service on 0800 100 900 or visit their website:

PRIME stands for The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise and is the only national organisation dedicated to helping older people start and run their own businesses. PRIME offers free information, workshops and business networking events. It can refer people to accredited advisers for free business advice, and can also offer free mentoring and other services.

Kingston Workstart is a free job match service that supports local jobless people into employment. Call 020 8547 6639 or email workstart@rbk.kingston.gov.uk for more information.

Supported by Kingston Council and the Higher Education Funding Council of England, graduate2business is a new scheme designed specifically to provide FREE hands-on employment advice and support to graduates and professionals who are unemployed or at risk of being unemployed, and who live in the Kingston area.

For professionals – an Executive Futures service delivered by Kingston Chamber of Commerce that offers networking and one2one support sessions on everything from tailoring your professional CV to setting up your own business.

The next meeting of Executive Futures will take place on Thursday 17 September 2009 at the Holiday Inn, Portsmouth Road, Kingston KT6 5QQ from 10.00 - 15.00.  To register for this free event, simply call Pascale Strudwick or Wanda McFarlane at the Kingston Chamber of Commerce on 020 8541 4441 and email your CV to executivefutures@kingstonchamber.co.uk.

For graduates – a jobseeker’s bootcamp on CVs, applications, interviews, presentations plus practice assessment centres and mock interviews plus one2one advice and support plus paid internships with local businesses.

To find out more give graduate2business a call on 020 8417 7445, or email g2b@kingston.ac.uk

Other Help

Offering help to people feeling stressed because of job insecurity, redundancy, debt or financial problems.  Discuss the issues that are affecting you and your family and get expert advice on how to help yourself if you're in a difficult situation.  Health advisors will listen, offer practical advice, guide you to useful online resources and put you in touch with other people who can help such as debt, housing, employment advisors, counselling and talking therapy services.

Daily: 8am-10pm

Call - 0300 123 2000

The government has produced a booklet to provide information for pensioners and those over 60 cope with the recession entitled Real help now for over 60's.  Please follow the link below to access the document directly.

Depending on your circumstances you may be eligible for one of two schemes:

• Support for Mortgage Interest - may help you with your mortgage interest payments to enable you to stay in your home if you’ve been on certain benefits for 13 weeks or more, or if you are on the lowest income and have limited savings. This help has been extended to increase the maximum amount of capital borrowed on which we will meet the interest payments.  Visit the Directgov website for more information.

• Mortgage Rescue Scheme is designed to help you stop your home being repossessed if this would mean that you became homeless and entitled to support from your local council. If you are likely to be able to get your situation back on track, then a housing association may buy a share in your home. This would cut your monthly repayments. If you are in more serious difficulties, a housing association may buy your home and you will then be able to stay there as a tenant.  Contact Kingston Council's Housing Advice department on 020 8547 5468 or Kingston Citizens Advice Bureau on 0844 826 9701  for more details.

These are means tested national welfare benefits to help those on a low income pay their rent and Council Tax. Visit the Benefits pages for further information or use the online Benefits Calculator to get an instant estimate of how much benefit you could get.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties paying your Council Tax it is important that you contact us immediately.  Visit the following pages for further information or to see if you qualify for a reduction visit the How to Reduce your Council Tax page.

In order to help people having difficulty with debt, the Government has increased funding for the National Debtline until 2011, which means it will be able to help 70,000 more people with their debt problems.  You can call the National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 or visit their website:

Kingston Citizens Advice Bureau can also provide you with help and advice on debt.

Coldbuster Grants can help those on a low income with energy efficiency measures and improved heating. The Houseproud scheme offers help to repair, improve or adapt your home. This is available to homeowners aged 60 or over or households with a disabled person of any age.

Advice, information and resources for those experiencing bereavement, job loss or relationship breakdown.