I have a Brompton sized marathon plus going spare...
You're in south Manchester? I can pick that up, and process it, for Arch, it is the perfect size for a belt, I wear one myself. PM me your details and I will sort out collection. I'll be seeing her over Christmas. Cheers.
Employability tests. The one about written information was absolutely fine but I've just screwed up the one about working with numbers. That loud crash you just heard was my self-esteem, plummeting earthwards without a parachute. More tea and a mince pie?
I'm on ESA (wot used to be incapacity benefit) but am doing all the required Things "to help me back to work". Let us not mention that there aren't any jobs - and the ones that do exist won't exactly be lining up to hire someone who has been a bit looney tunes in the past.
Ho hum and all that. More tea?
I am in the same boat but planning on returning to self employment so no silly tests and job searches to do. I had a medical test to determine that I can work again but after a lot of therapy, which I am going through at the moment, one of them will hopefully be an Arts on Prescription thing. I have the interview in January. If I get in I will be spending time doing arts related stuff to help me recover lost memory and skills from my illness without also recovering the stuff that made me ill.
Interestingly my medical consutant recommends more cycling and walking as therapy for the physical symptoms.
I know what you mean about the lack of jobs, especially for

types. I am likewise and I doubt I'll be getting a reference from my previous employer neither, hence return to self employment.
Job centre? that is a mis-nomer. It is the "Meet our targets for stopping people receiving benefits whatever way is possible, getting them a job would be an extraordinary coincidence" centre. In doing this, they do not need to be helpful, nor does the left hand need to know what the right hand is doing.
The last time I used the 'Job Centre' years ago (hmmm, 13 years ago

), to find work the clerk asked for my qualifications, experience and the types of jobs I was looking for. I provided a three page list of qualifications and training, eight pages of experience and said I was looking for housing management or development consultancy, or senior management in a housing association or council housing department.
I was offered shelf stacking in Tescos, advertising flyer delivery, hand car wash and pot washer in a pub.

I left the Job Centre and got myself a job managing a local Council's housing department.
