JOBCENTRE Plus staff in Bolton are trying to myth bust after years of people only seeing shoddy services in films.

Customer services leader Helen Starkey said: "I think people can be quite afraid when they come in.

Then they can be quite surprised by how supportive and friendly we are.

People can have a preconceived notion of what a Jobcentre is, they think it's still like it was in The Full Monty."

The Jobcentre Plus in Blackhorse Street alone houses 120 members of staff, from those on the front lines catching people walking in to work coaches who meet regularly with job seekers to make a plan for getting back into employment.

Pamela works on the front line at Bolton's Jobcentre Plus. She said: "Working on the front of house, you see it from day one. It can be quite daunting walking in for the first time, you can see how nervous people are. They might have mental health concerns, you just don't know what people are going through.

"When people have seen a work coach, they say 'well that went better than I thought it was going to". They walk out a little bit more positive.

"A month on, you can see the confidence of these people grow."

Jayne, a work coach at the Bolton branch, described the way she helps people build their confidence.

She said: "There is a lot of hand holding, a lot of confidence building. You might be starting out at the very beginning with people, if they have been out of work for the first time in many years.

"It can be really difficult for people if they have been out of work a long time. It's a slow burner, we don't rush people.

"We don't have a prescriptive route, it's the customers wants and needs. People are treated as individuals, we support people whatever their circumstances.

"I think the fear is taken out of them when we start to explain the benefit, it's about getting them to talk to us."

Tracey Foster, another member of staff at Bolton's Jobcentre Plus said the system is no longer a "menu" of limited options for help as it might have been years ago.

Ms Foster said: "It is a much more holistic approach than how it first was.

"We didn't used to ask these questions about circumstances which can affect getting into work. It's not universal anymore, there's no one size fits all fix."

The work coach says that there are plenty of opportunities available for people who have found themselves unemployed.

Jayne said: "If you have been in a job for 30 years it can be starting from scratch — sometimes people don't even have a CV.

"But they have a lot of transferable skills from their job. We sit with them and write a new CV."

Included the roster services which the centres now provide are visits from drug addiction teams.

Addiction teams come directly to help people at the Jobcentre Plus site.

The staff say that many people feel more comfortable using drug services in private rooms at the Jobcentre site and drug teams have, too, reported better engagement.

In extenuating circumstances, typically involving health, Jobcentre Plus staff can arrange home visits or speak to someone about their universal credit payments on the phone. The staff say this is all part of a system making sure no one falls through the cracks.