The Birmingham Mail has enlisted the skills of Apprentice TV star Ruth Badger to help the eight local people in their search for work.

Representing some of the West Midlands region's 223,000 jobless, the men and women are all ages and from different backgrounds, including construction and automotive.

Ruth, who was runner-up in the 2006 series of The Apprentice, will be mentoring each of the candidates to help them back into employment.

The Mail will be tracking their progress closely over the next few weeks as Ruth uses her skills to give the eight a very real chance of a brighter future.

The paper will be reflecting their progress in print every week on Thursdays - jobs day in the paper - in the hope that it will provide tips for other jobless people looking to get back to work.

Editor Steve Dyson said: "Around 36,000 people have lost their jobs in the region in the last three months alone, taking the region’s jobless total to 223,000.

"The Birmingham Mail has a crucial role in fighting back against the black despair of the dole queue, and our new 'We Want To Work' campaign is a clear, useful way we can help people in employment need."