On my previous visit to the Charles St Jobcentre in Cardiff for my fortnighty signing I was told that next time I would be signing on the 2nd floor and I would see my work coach. So when I arrived last week at the Jobcentre I went straight to the 2nd floor where quite a few people were waiting quietly.  They didn't have a reception desk and I was called within a few minutes of arriving.  I had arrived about two minutes before I was due to be called.  My work coach immediately told me that I was to start "Community Work Placements" or as we know CWP.  She said that I was to attend an induction with a company called "Learn About" and it would be in Newport.  I asked if any of the  big names owned the company and she said it was a brand new company.  I looked around the internet and found that it is a sister company of "ACT training", a well known training company in Cardiff.  This means that I have to catch a bus to Newport for an induction when in reality I could have walked to ACT in Cardiff.  My work coach  said that the placement will be in Cardiff and will last 26 weeks at 30 hours a week.  They will also be calling me in for jobsearch from 4 to 10 hours a week so that means another bus ride or two.   She also said that from now on I will be given a different signing time every fortnight although it looks like it will be on the same day.  This sounds more like they are hoping for people to miss appointments and lose benefits.  As these work coaches have a caseload of clients it makes no sense to just change the time as it achieves nothing other than the possibility that someone will forget that they have a morning appointment when they thought it was in the afternoon.

When I signed using the electronic pad I scored my lowest percentage of just 96%.  I will report on here what happens at the induction.  It appears that my placement must be beneficial to the community but that just means charity shops, cleaning up the environment and not a real placement that will help me get a job.  I'm a bit of an old hand at having to do courses so when I start the placement  I will just count the days down so five days a week for 26 weeks equals 130 days.  Finding me a placement won't be hard I'm sure and of course I will report on here who it is with.