A West Yorkshire man travelled to Leeds train station with a suit, a sign and hundreds of CVs after telling himself he wanted to do whatever he could to get back into work.
Trevor Walford, 63, a former restaurant manager, from Keighley, has been out of work for months after being made redundant during the coronavirus pandemic.
After months of applying for jobs in his home by himself, he decided to be proactive, rather than reactive, and got himself out to Leeds to hand out CVs to whoever would take one and listen to what he had to offer.
Trevor said: "I live alone and after months of sitting here, applying for jobs online, I got tired of it all.
"I figured I should put myself out there, so that's exactly what I did. I didn't think much of it really.
"But when I was in Leeds station, the amount of people that came over - probably because I was in a suit and a crappy sign – and spoke to me, it was all just so brilliant.
"I spoke to so many people."
Trevor stated he was beyond devastated after being made redundant back in March having been in the restaurant business for many years.
He would spend almost every hour of every day trying to find roles but with restaurants closing around the country, he struggled to find work.
Trevor said: "I suppose I am one of many who are in this situation - it has been a very difficult time.
"But after feeling sorry for myself, I realised that I do not want to just sit around and do nothing. I just cannot do that.
"So I begun looking for work anywhere I could get it."
Trevor admitted he feels employees would shy away from hiring him because of his age and he thinks he has been shunned from certain jobs in favour of younger workers.
However, at the age of 63, Trevor says "I am as fit as I have been".
"I could probably do more push-ups than most 30-year-olds," he said.
"Just because of my age, and previous roles, does not mean I am not happy to take a role - I would be happy to stack shelves.
"Right now, I need to keep my head above water. And I want to give myself the best opportunity to be back in work.
"That's why I put the suit on and travelled to the station."
After spending hours, he handed out well over 200 CVs and speaking to hundreds of people.
Later in the day, Trevor's LinkedIn page sky-rocketed to having over 100,000 page views.
He said: "I'm blown away by all the support, but all I want to be back in work.
"I know it's a difficult time right now, for so many people. My message to those in my situation would be to get out there and keep on pushing, keep on knocking on the door.
"If you show that you really want it, you'll give yourselves the best chance possible. I hope I have done that."
