K College in Tonbridge, where the RBLI scheme is being extended

Royal British Legion Industries has teamed up with a college to help the long-term unemployed find work.

The Aylesford-based charity was due to sign a deal today with K College to extend its Work Programme scheme to Tonbridge where it has opened a dedicated office on the Brook Street campus.

RBLI has been providing welfare to work services for the past 25 years and, as a sub-contractor to G4S, is now one of the most successful providers of The Work Programme in the South East.

The charity, in partnership with K College, already provides employment support in Dartford, Chatham, Ashford and Tunbridge Wells.

Across Kent and Sussex, some 6,000 people are on the RBLI’s Work Programme. Around 1,800 have found jobs, more than half in Kent.

Richard Brooks, RBLI’s head of work programme delivery, welcomed the partnership with K College. He said: “RBLI has always been proud of its reputation for success in getting unemployed people back to work.”

Phil Frier, Interim principal of K College, added: “Working in partnership with the RBLI gives both organisations the opportunity to use their skills and experience, developed over many years, to help and support people who are long-term unemployed (or at risk of becoming so) to find sustainable employment.”

RBLI is a sub-contractor of G4S in the Work Programme across Kent and Sussex under sub-contractor to G4S.