Community Organizers Help 1,200 People into Olympic Jobs

Lina Jamoul from London Citizens argues that Work Programme contractors could learn lessons from London Citizens’ success in helping east Londoners to find jobs at the 2012 games.

For years, people in East London have been saying they struggle to find work, but two things happened that drove the East London Citizens Organisation's (TELCO) decision to jump into job and recruitment delivery. The first was the recession, which worsened an already entrenched problem; the second was the Olympics, the biggest development in East London for more than a generation. The neighbourhoods that make up the boroughs hosting the Olympics are among the poorest in the country with some of the highest rates of unemployment.