More than £1 million to help get borough's unemployed back into work
Ealing Council has secured funding for three bids from the London Development Agency's (LDA) Opportunities Fund in partnership with other west London councils and the voluntary and community sector.
Out of 131 full applications only 31 were recommended for awards. The money will help train those finding it hard to get back into the job market. The three initiatives that secured funding are:
Skills for Enterprise
Awarded £390,000 over the next three years to be split between groups in Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham. In Ealing the funding will provide tailored English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, basic skills and basic business awareness support among refugee communities, especially in Acton and Southall.
Hammersmith Refugee Forum led the funding bid.
Reaching Out
Awarded £500,000 to be split over the next two years between the west London councils. The funding will go towards supporting people from deprived communities, through extra information, advice and guidance (IAG), to get off benefits and into work.
Nord Anglia, which runs the IAG Network in west London, led the bid.
Hire Us
Awarded £490,000 over the next three years to help support people with disability and mental health issues into work placements and off benefits and into employment.
Ealing Council, with Learning Curve Centre in Acton, Mencap and Suretrust, led the bid.
Ealing Council Leader, Cllr Jason Stacey, said: “These wins are good news for people in the borough who are really struggling to get off benefits and into work. I hope this will give them the hand up they need to help improve life for them and their families and to lift them out of the poverty trap.
March 16, 2007
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