Nottingham City Council has been successful in its bid for £500k funding which will be used to help the most vulnerable young people re-engage in education or training or secure employment.
The Nottingham Works Plus programme will combine Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) and European Social Funds (ESF) with existing funding to help 270 of the 15-29 year olds in the city who are finding it difficult to access training or gain employment.
This new programme, which builds on the existing ESF / YEI funded Nottingham Works programme, focuses on supporting three key groups who are facing specific barriers to gaining employment, namely asylum seekers and refugees, people with significant health conditions and young people from BAME communities.
In order to engage and support Nottingham’s most vulnerable local people the programme will be delivered by specialist partners who have been selected because of their track record in providing support to young people from the project’s target groups.
The Nottingham Works Plus programme is part of Nottingham City Council’s innovative Nottingham Jobs initiative which aims to support people of all ages and across all parts of the city to overcome barriers to work.
Councillor Sam Webster, Portfolio Holder for Business, Education and Skills said; “Nottingham City Council recognise that certain groups of people in Nottingham are often excluded from the jobs market for a variety of reasons including ill-health, social and financial difficulties or language barriers so for Nottingham City Council to successfully bid for funding to help those most likely to be disadvantaged is very positive.
“Providing jobs and training for everyone of working age in Nottingham is vitally important to the economic prosperity of the city. We also know that lack of education, employment or training can cause social isolation and imbalance in communities, both new and existing ones, so this additional funding will have a positive impact on quality of life.
“By working closely with organisations which are known and trusted in Nottingham’s diverse communities and by making use of their own skills and experience with specific groups, we are confident that this work will continue to bring down unemployment levels in Nottingham.”
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The project has received £500k of funding from the European Social Fund and Youth Employment Initiative as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England. The Department for Work and Pensions (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for the England European Social Fund programme. Established by the European Union, the European Social Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support skills development, employment and job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.