A YORK job club is to launch a special training course in computer skills for older people keen to get back into work.

The eight-day course, funded by National Lottery cash, is the latest initiative by Target Third Age, which aims to give mature people the skills to cope with the modern workplace and help them fight age discrimination.

Martin Barnett, the course director, admitted many older people were intimidated by computers.

But knowing how to use IT was one of the key skills many employers expected, he said. Being computer illiterate could be a major bar to finding a job.

Martin said: "Fear is the only thing that stops them. What we're saying is let's get these people over their fear of computers and get them back out on to the jobs market."

The courses, which begin next Monday and run for two days a week, aim to teach basic word-processing, spreadsheet and database skills.

They will also give training in basic job search skills, and in how to prepare CVs and job application forms.

Target Third Age, set up about 18 months ago in offices above the careers guidance centre in Piccadilly, York, already has a good record on getting older people back into work.

Chairman Jim Macauley says it is one of the most successful job clubs in the city.

Over the last 18 months it has helped over 100 members back into work, all of them over 35 and many in their fifties and even sixties, through a combination of training, networking with employers, advice on job-seeking and how to present yourself, and references.

Among the club's successes is 62-year-old Gerry Garnham.

Gerry, who had an impressive CV as a senior manager and managing director of West Yorkshire clothing firms, found himself effectively on the scrapheap when the recession hit Britain's clothing industry.

He ended up selling his home and moving into rented accommodation with his wife.

Desperate for work, he fired off applications for up to 50 jobs - without getting a single interview.

He said: "Nobody writes back and says you're too old. But it occurs to me that there must have been some age discrimination because I did not even get an interview."

That ended when a North Yorkshire property firm rang Target Third Age saying they had a vacancy, and asking the job club for help.

Gerry got the job, and is now in a senior management position with the company. He said: "Target Third Age transformed my life."

* To find out more about the computer course or Target Third Age, telephone 01904 671171.

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