PROJECTS across Malvern and Wychavon districts to help people gain the skills they need to find work has received a £283,000 funding boost from the Government’s Community Renewal Fund.
The cash has been earmarked to support projects which trial new approaches to investing in skills, local businesses and employment opportunities.
As part of the Wychavon and Malvern Upskilling Project, a survey of thousands of businesses has been carried out to ascertain what firms’ skills and training needs are.
Support will be available to help people access training courses and a comprehensive marketing campaign will be carried out to attract applicants for training posts and courses.
Subsidies are being provided to colleges and training providers to run courses which address skills gaps identified by businesses that they would otherwise be unable to deliver.
A timetable is being developed for the project which must be completed by June next year.
Both Wychavon and Malvern district councils have made addressing skills shortages and providing more training opportunities for people key priorities.
Coun Daniel Walton, Malvern Hills District Council’s portfolio holder for economic development and tourism, said: “We are already doing a huge amount to address the skills gap through our Your Future Workforce programme and this money will allow us to go even further to make sure businesses can recruit the people they need and our residents can access a wide range of training and employment opportunities.”
Coun Richard Morris, Wychavon District Council’s executive board member for economic growth and tourism, said: “Businesses are facing real pressure at the moment and need people with the right skills to grow and thrive.
“This money will be a welcome boost to our efforts to helping address skills shortages while creating more opportunities to access training and employment.”
