Unemployed people living in Coventry are to be shown that there is work available when hundreds of jobs are offered at a fair in one of the most deprived parts of the city.

More than 20 recruiting companies will be at Tower Court – the old Courtaulds building – between 10am and 6pm tomorrow.

It will bring together a range of specialist advice from all the agencies involved in getting people back to work and the local colleges.

There will be someone there to talk to people who have never worked, who want to re-train, who have been made redundant and mums and carers with children who want to return to the world of work.

Hundreds of full and part-time vacancies will be on offer at the fair, organised by Coventry City Council's area co-ordination and area regeneration teams, the Employment Service, the Chamber and JHP Training.

Firms represented will include Coventry Health Care NHS Trust, ASDA Stores, Reed Employment, Travel West Midlands, Pentagon Security Services, McDonalds and Capita Business Services.

Lord Mayor Cllr Sheila Collins, who will be opening the event, said:

"Jobs and training fairs like this give us the opportunity to do that little bit more in areas of the city with the highest levels of unemployment.

“Coventry has less unemployment and more jobs now than we have had for many years and we have a range of programmes in place to train people with the skills they need to access the jobs on offer.

“Having a job has a significant effect on people's lives and this job fair is for everyone - both the unemployed and the employed and I hope that as many people as possible will attend.

“We want to get Coventry working and that's what this event is all about."

The latest unemployment figures for January 2001 show that unemployment in Coventry stands at 6,013 (4,726 men and 1,287 women) - a rate of 3.9 per cent.

Karen Booret, Business Development Advisor with the Employment service said:

"There are currently lots of opportunities in the city. There is an enormous amount going on and we will have something for everyone at this event - from a part time job to a full time career."