SAINTS players may have packed it out to watch the Hangover 2 recently…but Cineworld’s other central attraction was brought to you courtesy of the rugby league club and Job Centre Plus.

A film about the successful Off the Bench course, showcasing some of the challenges the participants experienced, was premiered at the cinema.

The film showed how long-term unemployed people took part in activities they might never have considered such as coaching children, teambuilding, gardening in sheltered accommodation and interviewing the deaf through an interpreter.

The course aims to build confidence and ultimately get people back into work.

‘Stuck in a rut’ was a catchphrase often used when participants talked about life before the course. Many felt unmotivated, depressed and lacked confidence.

Terry Allen, 30, said: “It sounded different – more caring. My confidence had vanished with being unemployed for so long.

“The course helped bring it back. I got into kickboxing again and got an apprenticeship with Central Fitness. I loved coaching – seeing the kids’ respect for me was brilliant.”

Mark Rigby, 28, was offered the course after six months at the Job Centre.

He said: “I tried it out; it seemed like something I’d enjoy.

“I gained confidence, met people and opened my mind to what’s available for me. A highlight was the motivation I found.”

Some participants were not at the screening because they were attending job interviews, first-hand proof of the course’s benefits.

Greg Pennington, one of the organisers, said: “It’s been rewarding to work on. People are back in work and their families have been saying how their lives have improved.”