Over £1.8m Invested in people, skills and economic growth in Boston, South Holland and East Lindsey

The new SELCP UKSPF People & Skills Programme will start in April and will focus on supporting residents over the age of 16 to access employment opportunities and develop their abilities, while giving local businesses access to the skills they need to expand.

This approach, tailored to the needs of the area, is proposed to unleash growth in key sectors, supporting new skill areas (like digital, AI and manufacturing) and safeguarding ‘at risk’ skills too.

Having received a large amount of interest, eight projects in East Lindsey, Boston Borough and South Holland have been awarded £1.3m. When combined with the award of over £540,000 to projects awarded in the first Round of People & Skills funding, this amounts to a full People & Skills Programme worth over £1.8m.

The awards will be distributed among:

Partnership-wide

Boston United FC Community Foundation – Boston United Education & Training Hub – This is a one-year project to help people overcome barriers to work by using the power of football and the Boston United brand to create pathways into education, training, volunteering and employment in the physical activity sector. This will focus on supporting young people who are at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training. Activities delivered by this project will include:

• Outreach sessions in schools, plus taster days at the Jakemans Community Stadium, showcasing career and educational opportunities at both the football club and the foundation.

• Support for young people aged 18 and above in Boston who are not in education, employment or training to improve their soft skills by delivering formal sports leadership courses. Workshops, group sessions and Q&A sessions, all targeted towards improving participants’ confidence and employability skills.

• Access to FA Coaching qualifications and peer support networks

Boston College – Career Advance Programme – This project aims to provide a cohort of learners with accredited (NQF Level 2-3) or industry-recognised training and a guaranteed job interview with a named local employer, supported by wrap-around employability and life skills support. There will also be peer-to-peer support, a series of guest speakers from industry and project-based interventions to support learners in taking the next step in their career.

South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership – The Lincolnshire Academy – A proposal to create a long-term academy model at the Partnership to support the development of a pipeline of talent into key public sector roles, expanding opportunities for local residents, particularly those facing disadvantage or unemployment, to pursue careers in the public sector. The academy model will support the direct recruitment of local residents who are facing economic inactivity or who are recent school leavers to begin careers at the council. It will also support residents with a target of 1,000 hours of work experience provided within the life of the programme. As well as this, a wrap-around support programme – additional to the apprenticeship scheme - will be provided.

Boston College – Restart, Recruit, Upskill – This project aims to tackle unemployment issues by focussing on skill development and employment opportunities. Aligned with the Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), the project will provide 250 training places in priority sectors such as fresh food, food processing, logistics, construction and the visitor economy.

The project will provide a comprehensive package of employability and digital skills support, and a variety of courses specifically designed to equip participants with the necessary skills required by our sub-region’s priority sectors.

The project will also specifically address rural challenges in accessing training through bringing programmes directly to these areas, through rural hubs and access to a mobile hospitality instructional vehicle that will deliver hospitality training in rural areas. This approach will support the growth of the visitor economy in village locations by skilled hospitality professionals.

East Lindsey and Boston Only

University of Lincoln – Dynamic Growth – This project will focus on training leaders within local visitor economy businesses – with a particular focus on small businesses in a bid to support them to grow, innovate and create jobs locally. Working with the University of Lincoln, A Dynamic Growth course will be offered to two cohorts of 15 with an aim to support them through micro-credentials (accredited university level qualifications which can contribute towards an MBA in leadership), peer-to-peer learning in the visitor economy sector and working through assignments which will be specific to the development of their own business.

East Lindsey Only

Lincolnshire Care Association (LinCA) – Step Into Care - This pilot project will support local people to gain much-needed care qualifications (Level 2 Care Certificate), as well as vital ‘hands on’ experience in the care sector. On successful completion of the programme, all participants will be offered a chance to participate in a jobs fair and will be offered a guaranteed interview with a named local employer in the district.

Additionally, two projects will be awarded through the employer-led training strand across the partnership, focussing on the provision of accredited and industry-recognised courses in both the digital and visitor economy sector at NQF Level 2-5, as well as a guaranteed job interview for participants with a local employer in the partnership area.

This announcement follows the first round of People & Skills funding earlier this year and five additional award announcements through the Communities & Place and Supporting Local Business strands.

So far, a massive £11.2m has been committed to the delivery of projects across the partnership area through both the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the Rural Prosperity Fund.

In a joint statement, Boston Borough Council leader Coun Anne Dorrian, Coun Paul Redgate - South Holland District Council’s portfolio holder for Finance, Commercialisation, Levelling Up and UKSPF and East Lindsey District Councillors Steve Kirk, portfolio holder for the Coastal Economy, and Adam Grist, portfolio holder for Market Towns and the Rural Economy, said: “We are delighted to have been able to fund these important projects which we know will have a positive impact not only on our local economy but also will help to re-shape the skills offer for our residents.

“There is a huge focus on ensuring that our people have the vital skills they need in order to progress to higher skilled, higher paid jobs which will enable them to experience a better quality of life for both themselves and their families. In turn, we expect that this programme will play a valuable part in boosting our local economy by providing our area’s businesses with the specific skills they need to expand.

“Supporting the businesses which play an integral part to our agri-food sector and our visitor economy is also an important theme within this latest round of funding which is something we are very pleased to support.

“We are already seeing results from the programmes we have previously awarded funding from UKSPF and RPF – and we look forward to seeing the transformative work of the latest recipients in each of our districts.

“We are aware that the grant fund was significantly over-subscribed and we know there are many more high quality projects out there than we are able to fund.”