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CORNWALL COUNCIL WINS £5 MILLION EUROPEAN FUNDING

Cornwall Council is celebrating after winning more than £5 million of European funding to provide activities for approximately 4,500 people from hard to reach and vulnerable groups in the Duchy.


The Council, with support from Cornwall Enterprise, bid for five contracts from the Devon and Cornwall Learning and Skills Council’s Convergence European Social Fund to deliver activities to help people who are out of work to develop their skills and enter sustainable jobs and help prepare young people for working life.

Andrew Mitchell (Lib Dem), the Executive Member for the Economy, said
“This is excellent news for Cornwall . The County Council as lead contractor looks forward to working with our partners in the county to deliver the outcomes that are required to help prepare the future workforce for Cornwall take on the challenges of global markets. This is just the start of the process and we look forward to being as successful with the contracts with the Department of Work and Pensions”.

Three members of Cornwall Enterprise's Project Consultancy team worked to a tight deadline to help collate, prepare and submit the Equality and Diversity tenders. Managing Director John Berry said "Regenerating Cornwall's economy is pointless unless we can raise its hopes and aspirations too. This groundbreaking work will put new opportunities within the grasp of thousands of local people, and show them they live in a county where any barrier really can be overcome."

The activities will be targeted at a number of key groups across Cornwall, including people with disabilities or health conditions, lone parents, people aged 50 or over, ethnic minorities, people with no or low qualifications, young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET .

Three of the contracts are specifically targeted at young people:
• Best Start for Young People 1 – this contract, which is valued at £2,080,000, will build on the successful Freestyle project that supported NEET young people. It will support around 1,368 young people between the ages of 14 – 19 by funding personalised, preventative programmes and targeted youth support that aims to give young people the best start in life.
• Extended Learners Support Funds (ELF) – this contract, valued at approximately £500,000, is designed to support around 1,140 young people by assisting the removal of barriers to learning such as transport and equipment and will target the young people who need it most. It will include support for 14-16 year olds at risk of dropping out and who need additional support.
• Equality and Diversity Young People – this contract, valued at approximately £500,000, will support projects for around 285 young people who are NEET or at risk of dropping out.

The remaining two contracts are designed to support Equality and Diversity actions for unemployed adults and adults in work to improve Basic Skills and Level 2/3 qualifications and provide Information, Advice and Guidance. The aim is to deliver positive activities to help remove barriers to training and employment, improve employability and improve employer and community awareness of Equality and Disability issues.

The Equality and Diversity Adult contract, valued at £990,000 will support 257 adults, while the Equality and Diversity to support those not in employment, valued at £1,140,000 will support 1,372 people .

Support will focus on groups who often face unfair discrimination, including learners with learning difficulties and disabilities, people with disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, migrant workers, former offenders and their families and young parents.