April 2009 Archives

IT'S the worst recession in living memory - with one in 12 people in the West Midlands out of work.

But today the Birmingham Mail fights back against the black despair of the dole queue, with our new 'We Want To Work' campaign.

Your favourite newspaper has enlisted the skills of Apprentice TV star Ruth Badger to help eight local jobless people back into work, and give them hope again.

We will be tracking their progress closely over the next few weeks as Ruth brings her special skills to bear to give the eight a very real chance of a brighter future.

And we will be showing ALL readers the best way to get back to work, with the same campaign providing inside knowledge and top tips on the employment front.

The Mail knows how hard life is for some of our readers in this terrible economic downturn.

Around 36,000 people have lost their jobs in the region in the last three months alone, taking the region's jobless total to 223,000.

That's 36,000 people whose lives have been suddenly turned upside down, blighting their families' hopes and threatening the roofs over their heads.

Today the Mail stands up for every single one of those 223,000 jobless.

With Ruth Badger's and other experts' help, our 'We Want To Work' campaign will make a huge difference.

The Bishop of Birmingham was the centrepiece of the 12.30pm news conference at Fort Dunlop.

Bishop David Urquhart spends regular days in workplaces around the city, to help him understand what makes his Parish tick.

What was interesting to me was his insistence at being treated like anyone else... even down to the 'chipped-potatoes covered in sweet and sour pork with a bottle of water' lunch he enjoyed with me in our staff canteen.

By chance, the visit came the day after his office's great exclusive tip to reporter Patrice John on the church rage over Villa's Easter Sunday clash, a story that went on to do the rounds on national press, TV and radio after it was broken in the Birmingham Mail.

"There was no way anyone else was going to get the story first!" Bishop David told me.

Nice one, Bish!