The Unemployed Resource Centre and the advice/counselling facility in Ibbenbüren/ST are co-locared under one roof and run by an organisation that cares for immigrants, integration and education.  The not-for-profit body maintains a joint outreach centre in the town of Ibbenbüren, which is home to both counselling establishments.

‘People without work and those threatened by unemployment often face an uncertain future’, explains Anne Lahrmann, deputy managing director of the Ibbenbüren drop-in centre, ‘our facilities are there to help them deal with their worries about family and livelihood.  We work with them to find new career opportunities.’

Wheras the Unemployed Resource Centre offers low-threshold initial counselling, the Unemployment Advice Bureau tales this to the next level and provides guidance to those in need of further assistance.
With an estimated 70 per cent, the share of immigrants and their descendants is remarkably high in Ibbenbüren’s jobless community.  It is therefore an advantage that both counselling facilities are co-located with a number of advice centres for migrants, intercultural assistance and asylum seekers/refugees.

The long-term unemployed are in need of support and advice.  That is why the NRW Ministry for Work provides financial assistance under state and ESF programmes to independent unemployment counselling and resource centres.  An on-line tool can be used to locate North Rhine-Westphalia’s 73 unemployment counselling facilities and 78 resource centres.