Two Years On: What a Year of Friday Job Clubs Has Built

When I wrote the first piece for this blog, I talked about a memory that had popped up on my social media – the Creatives + Cooperatives event where I first met Natasha. I talked about how one conversation led to a meeting, a meeting led to a proposal, and a proposal led to the Finsbury Park Job Club.

What I didn’t know then was just how much that Friday slot would come to mean – not just to me, but to the people who walk through the door at SPACE4 every week.

We’re now over a year in. June 2025 to August 2026. And I want to try to capture what’s actually been built.

The numbers first – because they matter

Since we launched in June 2025, 92 people have registered at the Finsbury Park Job Club. That’s 92 individuals who took the step of showing up, filling in a form, and asking for help. Behind every one of those registrations is a story.

The community we serve is genuinely diverse – in the way Finsbury Park actually is, not in the way services sometimes describe it. Across the year, we’ve supported people from more than 15 different ethnic backgrounds. Arabic, Ukrainian, Greek, Chinese, Somali and European languages have all been spoken at that table. The age range runs from 18 to 65 and over, though the core of the community sits in that 35–64 bracket – people in the middle of their working lives, dealing with redundancy, career change, or the quiet erosion of confidence that unemployment brings.

The vast majority – over 80% – came to us unemployed. Many were on Universal Credit. Several had been out of work for over a year. Some had never used a computer confidently. A few arrived because a Jobcentre Plus adviser had pointed them our way. Others heard through word of mouth, or through partners like iWork and Islington Hub.

What they had in common was this: they needed real, practical help. And they didn’t want to wait for an appointment two weeks away.

What people actually come for

When I look at the registration data, the most common request is CV support and job search help. That’s not surprising. But what strikes me is how often that headline need sits alongside something else – digital skills support, confidence building, help navigating online forms or Universal Credit accounts.

The employment situation is rarely just about a CV. It’s about the whole picture. Someone arrives wanting help with their CV, and within twenty minutes you discover they’ve been struggling to access their Universal Credit journal online, or they’ve never set up a professional email address, or they just need to talk to someone who takes them seriously.

That’s what the Job Club is actually for. Not just the task at the top of the list – the whole person underneath it.

What people say

Every single one gave us 10 out of 10.

One respondent wrote: “If you are in need for a job, this Job Club can get you there.”

Another shared something that stayed with me. They came to us after a difficult few months – including a recent operation – having been let down they found out about SPACE4 and decided to try us, because they preferred face-to-face support. After one session, they wrote:

“Just visited once but I have good vibes making me to be more positive and motivated after a terrible last few months.”

And about the support itself: “Williamz was understanding, supportive and was very quick and effective to brush up my CV and sending on my email a new one based on my details. Very pleased.”

That’s the model. Not a form-filling exercise, not a waiting list. Someone arrives, we work together, something tangible happens – and they leave feeling different.

The partnership that makes it possible

None of this happens without SPACE4.

I don’t mean that as a polite acknowledgement. I mean it structurally. The environment matters. The fact that the Job Club runs in a space designed for thinkers, makers, and community-builders shapes what happens inside the sessions. People walk in and feel that something genuine is happening here. That raises the standard – for me and for them.

Natasha and Maddy have been genuinely committed partners, not just landlords. What started as a Friday Job Club has become something that feels like it belongs in this building.

Digital Fridays

In 2026, we launched Digital Fridays.

The morning Job Club continues as it always has – 10am to 1pm, open access, no eligibility criteria, no appointments. But from 1:30pm, we now run digital inclusion workshops for the community.

Sessions so far have covered Basic Computer Skills, Introduction to AI and ChatGPT for job searching, and LinkedIn from Scratch. Alongside the group workshops, we’ve introduced Digital Concierge – one-to-one support for people who need help completing a specific online task but aren’t ready or willing to join a course. Freedom Pass applications, Universal Credit account access, GP registration online. The small things that become enormous barriers when you can’t do them.

The afternoon offer is still growing. But the demand was clear from the moment we announced it.

What comes next

We’re not stopping here.

The Digital Fridays programme is expanding. The referral network is growing – we’re working with LIFT, Job Centre Plus, iWork, Islington Hub, Best Life Coaching, and others who are sending people our way. We’re building the evidence base, session by session, that will allow us to secure longer-term funding and keep this free for everyone who needs it.

The 92 people who registered this year are the foundation. The next 92 are already out there in N4, N7, N19 – just waiting to hear about us.

If you’re reading this and you know someone who could benefit: the Job Club is every Friday, 10am–1pm, right here at SPACE4. Digital Fridays workshops run on the last Friday of each month from 1:30pm. No appointments, no eligibility criteria. Just show up.

That’s always been the point.

Williamz Omope is the Founder & Managing Director of WO Consultancy CIC, a community interest company delivering free employability and digital inclusion programmes across North London.

Finsbury Park Job Club: finsburyparkjobclub.co.uk WO Consultancy: woconsultancy.co.uk