A CHARITY designed to help professional people get back into work has had a visit from a mayor.

Councillors Paul Frankum and Cllr Jane Frankum, the erstwhile mayor and mayoress of Basingstoke and Deane, offered their support and encouragement to a group of job-seekers at one of the regular Friday meetings of the M3 Job Club on April 21.

There, the pair met some of the club’s volunteer staff, including chairman, Richard Thayer and also chatted to individual club members, hearing some of their stories about the help they are receiving from the club to offer guidance and help in finding a new job or career.

Speaking about her own personal experiences, the Mayoress highlighted the challenges faced by women, in her case returning to the workplace after having an extended career break to raise a family.

Mr Thayer said : “We were delighted that the mayor and mayoress could find time in their busy schedule to visit the club. It is very important to us that leading members of the community, including civic dignitaries, representatives of the council, together with members of the business community, are given an insight into our activities to understand the work we do. This is an ideal opportunity to explain to them how our work is vital to the local business economy in giving professional people the information, knowledge and guidance that they need to help them get back into work.

For more information about the work of the M3 Job Club, go to https://m3jobclub.co.uk.