Today was the day that the Charles St Jobcentre in Cardiff was hosting a kind of jobs fair and I was given a letter informing me of it a few weeks ago so obviously I attended it. Last week when I attended the Jobcentre for my fortnightly signing I was given another letter informing me of a one hour session called “Discover Your Potential” for the over 50's that was also for today. As I had an hour to spare before the session started I wandered around the various stalls on the ground floor, 1st floor and 2nd floor and while most of them were not offering jobs, some of them were but it appears that they wanted people to apply online. The Royal Mail, Matalan(who are opening a new store in Queen St) and Admiral were among the most well known companies. I noticed a stall for the advice hub representing Cardiff Council and I asked about free photocopy facilities at Marland House and was assured that if I need a few photocopies of my CV then all I have to do is turn up. I sat down at a stall representing the Credit Union and although I am not considering a loan from anyone, I thought I could kill off some time by asking a few questions. The young guy at the desk was very polite but he couldn't answer any questions in detail. I asked him, what is the percentage of people who obtain loans from the Credit Union but he couldn't answer. I managed to ask enough questions to fill in around 25 minutes. At one time I couldn't get onto the first floor as they had a limit on how many people at any one time could be allowed onto the first floor so we had to wait until someone decided to leave. While I was walking around the ground floor I noticed a table that had the layouts of all the floors and where the various stalls were located. On the same table were two large folders containing plastic pockets full of documents. I thought they were for general information so I opened one of the folders and saw that each plastic pocket had many copies of the same documents so I took a couple out and started reading them. A few minutes later a member of staff asked me what I was doing and I told her that as they were freebies I was just taking a couple. She was the person who introduced herself to me a few weeks ago as my new Work Coach. She said they were for office staff only and took the documents back. I asked a few questions regarding the documents and suggested that they should be available to the claimants but she replied that most of the regulations are freely available online. It appears that from July they introduced certain things that most of us did know anyway and that makes it more strange that they wouldn't allow me to take a copy. Such things as not allowing anyone to eat or drink in the building. The document stated that if anyone arrives for an appointment accompanied by someone to represent them then that person must wait outside as permission has to be granted before the appointment is set. I suggested that if this was known to the claimant then the problem might never arise and of course not everyone is online. I also noticed that it stated that no one should enter the Jobcentre more than ten minutes before their appointment. Eventually the time came for me to go again onto the first floor and attend the “Discover Your Potential” course for the over 50's. Eventually we all entered a room just over ten minutes after the course was supposed to start. The lady taking the course was excellent, very friendly came across really well. She doesn't work for the Jobcentre but runs her own business. It was mainly about improving the individuals confidence and it lasted just over an hour. Most long term unemployed claimants have completed many similar courses but to be fair to the lady who was running it, I give her 10 out of 10 for effort and enthusiasm. In fact she came across as a very honest and caring person and I think I heard her say that she was running the course today as a favour to coincide with the jobs fair. Next week when I sign at the Jobcentre I hope that the woman who is my Work Coach doesn't think bad of me regarding looking at those documents and giving her a bit of a hard time by questioning her. I will find out next week and report back on here.