THE first ever jobs and careers fair organised by the Evening News has been hailed a huge success.

Nearly 2,000 job hunters attended the event in the Guildhall earlier this month, which was run in association with the Employment Service and sponsored by Worcester College of Technology.

Colleges, universities and other training establishments joined local employers to target people of all ages in the jobs and careers market.

The event was organised by Evening News advertising team leader Sandra Sandon and classified manager Julia Lancett.

"We didn't want to just target graduates or people leaving school, we wanted to encourage people who had been unemployed for a long time and wanted to get back into the workplace," said Mrs Sandon.

Unemployed

"We had a really good cross-section of people, aged 16 to 60, including people who had been unemployed for a while and people who were looking for a change of career."

Year 11 pupils from local schools had also been invited along to the six-hour event and a number of young people turned up looking for training opportunities and advice.

The organisations represented at the event included the Evening News, First Midland Red, Kidderminster boat builders Sealine, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals, Hewett Recruitment, Whittington-based GPU Power, the RAF, Navy and Army, Stourbridge College, Birmingham University and Hereford and Worcester Careers Service.

"We were very pleased that it was such a success. It will now become an annual event," added Mrs Sandon.