The rain was falling, the weather forecast looked bad so off I went to Charles St Jobcentre to attend the volunteer session under my old umbrella that I bought in 1989. It is supposed to be windproof so if it blows inside out you can simply close it and reopen it. Of course that means if any kind of wind blows up then it will blow inside out at the drop of a hat leaving many observers laughing as I get soaked but today the wind was very mild and I got to my destination intact. Usually I just say to a security guard at the ground floor entrance that I have a session to attend on the 2nd floor and that is usually it but today the guy asked if my session had already started and I said no and he then accepted the fact and let me enter. I only said no as I was a few minutes early and when I got to the 2nd floor I went to the reception area and two guards were behind the small kind of counter. I showed one of them my letter regarding the volunteer session and he told me to take a seat with the others. I went along to the area and usually I just stand waiting for someone to take us to the room they use for the sessions. The security guard told me to take a seat as he passed me so I did. A few minutes later nine of us were taken to the room and we all sat down as a woman calling herself Kim took the session on volunteering. This session was different from the other one that I had attended. She said all the things that most people would expect her to say and when she said that she was enthusiastic about volunteering I just smiled as I didn't want to anything risky such as “if you are so enthusiastic why don't you do some volunteering in your spare time, don't let work stop you from doing something you would enjoy”. I managed to control myself and a number of the others did ask a few questions and got involved. A brief discussion went on regarding comments concerning the community work starting in april next year for the long term and under 25 unemployed. We were all given a list of volunteering positions that the Jobcentre had. One guy did say that he got a job in the past from originally volunteering. I didn't record how long the session took but it must have been no more than half an hour. I remember we were told that you can only volunteer once and when it's over you can't volunteer again. It could last for five to eight weeks but the individual does have some say in the hours and days. It's possible up to three of the nine in the room might volunteer for something eventually. Usually I see a mix of older and some young people on these sessions but I don't think anyone was under 35 today and possibly at least five of the nine were well over forty. One guy said that he has five weeks work starting on November 25th with the Royal Mail. I didn't mention my problems with the Royal Mail or the fact that I have an interview next week for a similar job that I thought would start on November 18th. After the problems when I first applied I expect it will be a negative result for me but it will be a good experience although I will have to give my bank details even though it is doubtful that they will employ me. I don't have much in the bank, the last time I looked it was just over £3 but they shouldn't be allowed to ask for such details before an offer of employment is made. I will report on here how my 2nd Royal Mail interview goes. A two hour round trip should get my legs knackered but at least I will be able to type.