New Release - Successful!
We are excited to announce we have been awarded to deliver LA6 Community Grants from January 2022 to March 2023.
The combined contract value is £750k, which we will award in small grants (up to £20k) to Third Sector organisations (voluntary, community, registered charities, social enterprises, mutual and co-operatives) to deliver projects that mobilise disadvantaged or excluded individuals to enable their progress towards further education and employment.
The contract value will be split accross the 6 Local Authorities taking into account population, number of unemployed individuals, number of inactive individuals who are classed as short or long term sick, and those who want to work (Data from NOMIS July 2020-June 2021). Please view the document below which shows the funding allocated to each Local Authority Area and how this has been calculated:
We are excited to announce we have been awarded to deliver LA6 Community Grants from January 2022 to March 2023.
The combined contract value is £750k, which we will award in small grants (up to £20k) to Third Sector organisations (voluntary, community, registered charities, social enterprises, mutual and co-operatives) to deliver projects that mobilise disadvantaged or excluded individuals to enable their progress towards further education and employment.
The contract value will be split accross the 6 Local Authorities taking into account population, number of unemployed individuals, number of inactive individuals who are classed as short or long term sick, and those who want to work (Data from NOMIS July 2020-June 2021). Please view the document below which shows the funding allocated to each Local Authority Area and how this has been calculated:
LA6 Community Grants Funding split by LA area.docx | |
File Size: | 58 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Local Delivery Requirements
Skills in the North East LEP area
Enhancing the regions skills base is essential to improving economic performance. Investment in skills helps individuals access available employment opportunities, establish businesses, and build careers. At an economy wide level, it helps drive productivity, growth, and social mobility.
Investment in skills will be most effective if it reflects the needs of employers, ensuring alignment between labour demand and supply. This is particularly important currently as the region’s economy, pre COVID-19 pandemic, was going through a period of transition.
The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
As it the case across England and the UK, the North East LEP area has been significantly affected by the pandemic and resultant economic crisis, suffering both economically and socially. Analysis conducted on behalf of the regions Multi-Agency COVID-19 Economic Recovery Group and National Labour Market Information has been analysed to Regional level, and the following headline statistics highlight the challenges the region faces:
As well as official levels of ‘claimant count unemployment’, a further indicator of the challenges faced by the North East region surrounds the level of ‘economic inactivity’. Again, in this respect the region compares unfavourably with other areas of England. The North East rate of economic inactivity stands at 23.5% of the working age population, compared with the UK average of 20.7% (October 2020). This is a key statistic as a significant proportion of prospective participants of Community Grants fall into this ‘economically inactive’ category.
Skills, the Labour Market, and the impact of COVID
Despite the challenges faced by the labour market, the regional economy is now experiencing a period of strong job creation. Vacancy numbers are rising quickly in a number of sectors including Digital, Food and Drink, Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics, Healthcare, and Energy.
As recruitment activity picks up, many North East businesses are experiencing skills shortages. The worst effects are being felt in Hospitality, Tourism, Logistics, Healthcare, Construction, Agriculture, Food and Drink and Manufacturing.
Those facing multiple barriers to employment
The pandemic has made it more difficult for this cohort of jobseekers to move towards and into work. Evidence indicates that as the economic impact of Covid took hold in the Spring and Summer of 2020, recruitment dried up, people lost their jobs and those seeking work were often applying for jobs below their qualification and experience levels.
This has cascaded throughout the recruitment market since the onset of Covid in March 2020, making it even more challenging for the Community Grants target group of participants (economically inactive, aged 50+, BAME, female, those with long term health conditions/disabilities) to access employment. Therefore, improving the skillsets of this cohort is critical if they are to move into, and towards, work.
Organisations applying for a Community Grant will be required to:
The types of activities that should be delivered include:
Skills in the North East LEP area
Enhancing the regions skills base is essential to improving economic performance. Investment in skills helps individuals access available employment opportunities, establish businesses, and build careers. At an economy wide level, it helps drive productivity, growth, and social mobility.
Investment in skills will be most effective if it reflects the needs of employers, ensuring alignment between labour demand and supply. This is particularly important currently as the region’s economy, pre COVID-19 pandemic, was going through a period of transition.
The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
As it the case across England and the UK, the North East LEP area has been significantly affected by the pandemic and resultant economic crisis, suffering both economically and socially. Analysis conducted on behalf of the regions Multi-Agency COVID-19 Economic Recovery Group and National Labour Market Information has been analysed to Regional level, and the following headline statistics highlight the challenges the region faces:
- 97% of businesses impacted by COVID19
- 30% reduction in footfall in city/town centres
- 36,400 more people claiming unemployment benefits
- 32% of workforce furloughed at peak, and
- Almost 140,000 workers (c.15%) of the workforce were furloughed in March 2021.
As well as official levels of ‘claimant count unemployment’, a further indicator of the challenges faced by the North East region surrounds the level of ‘economic inactivity’. Again, in this respect the region compares unfavourably with other areas of England. The North East rate of economic inactivity stands at 23.5% of the working age population, compared with the UK average of 20.7% (October 2020). This is a key statistic as a significant proportion of prospective participants of Community Grants fall into this ‘economically inactive’ category.
Skills, the Labour Market, and the impact of COVID
Despite the challenges faced by the labour market, the regional economy is now experiencing a period of strong job creation. Vacancy numbers are rising quickly in a number of sectors including Digital, Food and Drink, Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics, Healthcare, and Energy.
As recruitment activity picks up, many North East businesses are experiencing skills shortages. The worst effects are being felt in Hospitality, Tourism, Logistics, Healthcare, Construction, Agriculture, Food and Drink and Manufacturing.
Those facing multiple barriers to employment
The pandemic has made it more difficult for this cohort of jobseekers to move towards and into work. Evidence indicates that as the economic impact of Covid took hold in the Spring and Summer of 2020, recruitment dried up, people lost their jobs and those seeking work were often applying for jobs below their qualification and experience levels.
This has cascaded throughout the recruitment market since the onset of Covid in March 2020, making it even more challenging for the Community Grants target group of participants (economically inactive, aged 50+, BAME, female, those with long term health conditions/disabilities) to access employment. Therefore, improving the skillsets of this cohort is critical if they are to move into, and towards, work.
Organisations applying for a Community Grant will be required to:
- Undertake activities that promote social inclusion
- Build employment and enterprise skills through the voluntary and community sector
- Provide intensive support to help upskill participants and move towards and enter work
- Engage participants who are the hardest to reach through innovative approaches
The types of activities that should be delivered include:
- Innovative approaches to engaging economically inactive and unemployed participants
- Job brokerage, coaching and mentoring to support people into work
- Mentoring/peer mentoring and/or group work approaches to coaching
- Effective engagement with employers to identify and secure opportunities for participants
- Basic skills training, including additional support with basic skills, language, and numeracy support where applicable
- Support for refugees to engage with the labour market and overcome language or cultural barriers to participation
- Money management support including digital and internet literacy courses
- Volunteering and training opportunities
- First contact engagement activities; activities that benefit participants who are not normally in contact with official organisations, e.g., DWP or FE Colleges
- Projects to improve confidence, motivation, and social integration such as sport, gardening, music, art, and other creative activities
- Developing local networks and groups to support people to get a job or access learning e.g., job clubs or learning champion type activity
- Softer skills development e.g., confidence building, assertiveness, anger management and motivation
- Innovative approaches to attract underrepresented participant groups into learning
- Over 50’s
- BAME
- Those with long term health conditions/disabilities
- Women; and/or
- Those in geographical locations that are areas of high deprivation