Jobless young people, the long-term unemployed and those in poverty will be helped towards finding work by a £15million fund, through the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership and the Big Lottery Fund.
The ‘Building Better Opportunities’ (BBO) programme will deliver three major initiatives – at a total cost of £15,125,000 – to directly tackle long-term unemployment, and financial and social exclusion.
Half the funding for the three year projects will come from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s European Social Fund (ESF) allocation, itself part of a larger € 250million in European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), and half from the Big Lottery Fund.
D2N2 is the private sector-led partnership of business, local authorities, skills and training providers, and community and voluntary organisations which promotes economic growth and jobs creation across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for distributing 40% of all the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery; and has awarded more than £1billion to projects with a social mission in 2014-15.
The People First consortium – made up of D2N2 LEP area based charities Framework, Advice Nottingham and Groundwork – has successfully secured the BBO funding for the following three projects:
Opportunity and Change:
A pathway to work – £4.6million for a project aimed at people with multiple and complex needs – including combinations of health problems, family care responsibilities, homelessness, experience of domestic violence or offending – which have so far prevented them from becoming economically active. The project will support those furthest from finding employment to address their barriers and complex circumstances; and move them towards work, training, further education or volunteering opportunities.
The project has now begun. It is being led by Nottingham-based charity Framework; which works with homeless, vulnerable and excluded people.
Money Sorted in D2N2
£3m towards a project to combat financial exclusion. It will help people who are in financial difficulties whilst out of work, by helping them deal with money issues more effectively, and ensure they are accessing the financial help and benefits they are entitled to. It will seek to address this problem, understanding that poverty and extreme financial hardship are key contributing factors to people being excluded from society.
The project, which has also just begun, is being led by the St Ann’s Advice Group, as the lead organisation for Advice Nottingham.