Press Releases
Council wins funding boost to give unemployed a helping hand (PR 949)
A significant funding win for Ealing will see more than £1 million spent on helping some of the most disadvantaged people in the borough come off benefits and into work.
Ealing Council, in partnership with other west London councils and the voluntary and community sector, secured funding for three bids from the London Development Agency's (LDA) Opportunities Fund.
The money will provide a wide range of training and assistance to those most needing help 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.
"It also demonstrates our commitment to ensuring there are opportunities for all people in the borough to prosper."
ENDS
Notes for Editors
The LDA Opportunities Fund is a highly over-subscribed,
competitive bidding round. Our bids fell under the LDA theme of
Skills and Employment for Equalities Groups for which there were
131 full applications. Of these, only 31 were recommended for
awards. Across all four themes a total of 56 projects were
recommended for awards, which is just under 21% of the total number
of applications (268).