Madam, Viv Kendell's letter in last week's Ross Gazette in which she described her own experiences of unemployment after 30 years of work echoed so much of what we have heard and observed over the past few years as part of several programmes across the West Midlands and Europe.

The numbers of people over 50 who are unemployed is massively underestimated because people like Viv have become disillusioned by the system. A recent project undertaken in Kington and funded by the European commission entitled 'Unlocking the potential of people over 50' showed just how much difference can be made by adopting a more personalised approach as opposed to the 'Conveyor Belt' numbers-based system currently in place.

The fault for what is happening now is an obsession by successive London centric Governments to get people into jobs at all costs ignoring, as we can see in the Ross Gazette, that jobs are just not available any more, particularly in rural areas.

Furthermore they have introduced a new Work programme where responsibility for training and support has been vested into the hands of large corporate organisations removing some of the roles and responsibilities from local colleges and community based initiatives.

Finally Ross itself, unlike Kington and other Herefordshire market towns, appears to lack a driving power to co-ordinate the types of initiative and programmes based on social enterprise that can often lead to employment and training. There are opportunities and resources out there, not least within the European Commission, to facilitate such programmes but I see little evidence of these being taken up on a local level.

If Viv or anyone else in the same situation would like to contact us please email [email protected]">[email protected]e like Viv have become disillusioned by a system that fails to acknowledge not only the skills and potential of older people but their need for sensitive support and understanding, not least in coming to terms with modern technology and systems.

John White, Executive Director PiscesWM, Wolverhampton