2023 Jobs Fair! Tomorrow!

 It's almost here... The eighth annual Tynedale and Ponteland Jobs Fair is this Thursday (26th) at the Wentworth Leisure Centre.

We have over 60 employers with full and part-time opportunities, apprenticeships and career advice all on offer.

 If you are looking for work, please come along!

Ponteland Over 50s Fair!

                                  

Last Thursday, I held the Ponteland Over 50's Fair at the Ponteland Leisure Centre. 

60 local employers, charities, community groups and volunteering networks came along and set up their stalls in the new state of the art sports hall. 

                                   

The opportunities on offer were incredible. What what struck me most was the huge variety in the hall. There were plenty of employers looking for new recruits, including EE, Matfen Hall, Ouseburn Farm, North East Fostering, Springfield Healthcare, St Cuthbert's Care, Home Instead, and Groundworks North East. Newcastle Airport, one of the region's biggest employers, also came along and very kindly sponsored the event.

                                    

There was also a fantastic number of local volunteering and hobby groups at the fair, and I must admit I didn't realise there were quite so many in Ponteland. From Ponteland Friendly Stitchers and Ponteland Local History Society, to the Ponteland Ramblers, and the Ponteland Senior Gentlemen's Club, there really was something for every single one of the 400 people who turned up looking for a job, a volunteering opportunity, or a new hobby to take up. 

                                     

The feedback from all was positive. The atmosphere on the day was relaxed, people were able to just come and go as they pleased, and there was no pressure to sign up to anything - some just came along for a coffee and a chat. It was fantastic to see so many smiles on faces - I think the most important thing was that everyone seemed to enjoy the event. 

                                     

I want to thank everyone who came along. After many many months of preparation and planning, I'm so pleased that the fair was a roaring success. I'm looking forward to next year's already. 

Good news for Tynedale tenant farmers

Farmers across West Northumberland are at the heart of our rural economy, including tenant farmers,  not least given the essential role they play as a route into farming.

Their voices must be heard, which is why, following the comprehensive review of tenanted farming chaired by Baroness Rock, the Government has made some key announcements:

• creating a new farm tenancy forum to put a more formal engagement and feedback structure in place between DEFRA and the tenanted sector will embed tenant farmers further in policymaking, improve communication with the tenanted sector and help make Government schemes as accessible as possible.
• developing a new Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and industry-led code of practice on expected standards of socially responsible behaviour for all parties involved in agricultural tenancy agreements.
• launching a call for evidence this summer on a proposed ‘tenant farming commissioner’ or ombudsman.

These are positive steps, building on previous work, such as making it easier for tenants to participate in the sustainable farming incentive by offering 3-year agreements, making all productivity grants accessible to tenant farmers, including the £168m of investment launching across 2023, and around half of the 22 long-term, high-ambition landscape recovery projects selected in the first round involving tenants working with other farmers and land managers.