JOBLESS people on Oxford’s largest estate are being offered free IT training to help them get back into work.

The Blackbird Leys IT Zone (Blitz) at the Leys Linx Centre, in Blackbird Leys Road, is a voluntary organisation offering residents access to computers and the Internet.

Volunteer manager John Clifford has secured £13,000 of funding from Oxford Brookes University to pay specialist tutors to run informal courses for adults with little or no IT knowledge, who are looking for jobs.

He has also been given £5,000 by the Oxford Community Foundation to help with running costs.

Mr Clifford emphasised the importance of IT skills as underpinning everything in the 21st century.

He called on residents to sign up.

He said: “We will put anyone who wants to learn about IT on a course.

“It’s about getting over the digital divide. People are scared to death by computers.

“This courses is specifically for people looking for work.

“At work, everyone needs to know how to use computers at some point.

“If people want to move house or get on the housing ladder or into the workplace, they need to know how to use a computer.

“Even getting money out of a cash machine can be difficult for some people.

“I want to teach as many as we can get – my target is 150 to 200 for the year.”

Mr Clifford and his team will run beginners, improvers and advanced courses, depending on experience, teaching participants how to use the keyboard, the mouse, produce a Microsoft Word document, use the Internet and later on, use Microsoft Office and Excel. Free CV workshops will also be offered.

Mr Clifford said: “A lot of people in the past have come in and after three or four weeks they’re so bubbly. That’s what keeps me going.”

Blitz opened in 2002, but funding dried up and for the past six months, tutors have been working voluntarily.

They have taught about 200 people in the past two years – the oldest being 83.

For information, contact Mr Clifford on 01865 714492 or call into the Leys Linx Centre.