College awarded significant funding for community renewal project
Harlow College is delighted to announce the award of £779,357.00 from the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund, with funding being allocated to two significant community pilot projects, starting in January 2022 and running for a six-month period.
The UK Community Renewal Fund is a UK Government initiative for 2021/22 which aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK. It invests in skills, communities, local business, and supports people into employment.
The first pilot project, an opportunity unique to Harlow residents, aims to improve the prosperity and productivity of Harlow and support the town’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic through providing adults with access to good quality information, advice and guidance as well as financial support with the tuition costs of higher-level training courses.
Focusing on adults wishing to develop their skills to gain employment or for those already in employment looking to progress their career, the College will manage a training voucher scheme providing up to £1000, making training available to many people who would otherwise have been unable to access it due to the cost of tuition fees.
The second pilot project, based in Tendring and delivered by Enable East, an independent NHS team based in Colchester, includes a programme of wellbeing and resilience activities to support young people who have been affected by Covid-19.
Tendring faces several socio-economic challenges that impact young people’s journeys through education and into employment. The project will support school pupils with activities to ease the transition between years 11, 12 and 13, with a focus on building wellbeing, resilience and aspirations.
This pilot project builds on the support already available for adults looking to retrain and upskill available from the UK Government’s ‘Free Courses for Jobs Level 3 offer’. Sharon Menzies, who is studying the Early Years Educator course at the College, said: “I’m really enjoying the course. It’s been a long time since I was last studying and you do have a few nerves about coming back into the classroom but everybody’s been so lovely.
“I had looked at doing a Level 2 course but the cost was a bit high for me and it was only when I spoke to the Admissions team at Harlow College that they told me that the Level 3 course was funded (as part of the government’s Free Courses for Jobs Level 3 offer) which was a big relief. It’s great to see that there are qualifications out there that you can gain, that are backed by government funding.”
Karen Spencer, Principal of Harlow College, said: “Harlow College is delighted to be awarded the Community Renewal Funding. Providing clear pathways into sustained and productive careers is vital to the UK economy. The funding will allow us to extend our approach supporting more people to retrain, upskill and future proof their careers.”