I went along to Charles St Jobcentre in Cardiff to attend the Barriers to Work session that I had been directed to attend. Ten of us were led into the room that has been used for the three previous sessions that I attended. A few minutes later another person joined the group. The group was made up of eight men and three women and the woman who took the other sessions was also taking this one. She started by asking if any of us had any barriers to work although most of us were only attending as we were told to do so. A few comments were made by some people regarding health issues and needing some funding for training. We were told that our advisors could possibly allow payment for training up to £300 if it would result in significantly helping a person to find employment. It was also mentioned that if we have an interview our advisor could provide a grant for clothing but the amount wasn't mentioned. If a peron has an interview or wants to go out and hand in their CV's to employers then they could possibly receive a bus pass for a day. That seems quite handy if the bus pass would allow you to use it all day for whatever you want after you have done your job seeking activity. One guy at the end of the session asked if he could claim anything towards heating bills on jobseekers allowance. The rest of us looked at him as if to say “Are you for real? He was a friendly enough guy and no one made any comment although the lady taking the session told him that he could get some advice from a leaflet she had about how to save on his bills by doing things such as only half filling his kettle before boiling or turning off his lights. One of the men stated that employers sometimes discriminate against people because of age. He said that he was on the wrong side of fifty and he had experience of hiring people when he was in work and knew that it goes on although illegal. A quick mention of different types of CV's and leaving off dates to hide age and possibly use a skills based CV instead. The session lasted approximately one hour and as I said on here two weeks ago, as it was also my fortnightly signing day I was told to go down to the first floor after the session and my advisor would complete my signing. At the time I did ask my advisor what would happen if she wasn't here in two weeks time, how would I sign? She said that she would be here but amazingly she wasn't. I went down to the first floor and asked to see my advisor so that I could sign and was told by the security guard at the reception desk that she is off sick. Lucky for me that I had my signing card, job search and my letter to attend the Barriers to Work session with me and a member of staff allowed me to sign. She did a good job, very polite and efficient. It just goes to show that you can never take anything for granted. It's always worth having appointments in writing, it would have been easier if I had a letter showing that my advisor was going to sign me later than usual so that if she wasn't available I would have been able to just show it to the person on reception. My next appointment with my advisor is in two weeks time to probably discuss todays session and of course complete my fortnightly signing. I still have that direction to attend the Jobsfair in the City Hall on September 18th, six days after my next appointment and it's a bit odd that I received that direction so early. It would have been better to receive that direction nearer the event as it is so easy to forget dates when you are informed over a month before they take place.