Employment and skills scheme celebrates three-year anniversary
Black Country Impact is celebrating three years helping young people between the ages of 16 and 29 in Wolverhampton into education, employment, apprenticeships and training.
Black Country Impact is a £51m scheme to help young adults in Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton gain vital skills to get into work and runs in conjunction with the Department for Work and Pensions and European Social Fund.
The project, which has has helped 1,400 young people in Wolverhampton, also receives funding from the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) and match funding from the National Lottery Community Fund.
In Wolverhampton, the Impact team works with partners including Connexions, Wolverhampton Homes, housing providers, Youth Offending Team, Strengthening Families Hubs, Job Centres, Children and Young People’s Services and Wolves at Work, Voluntary Community Sector providers such as YMCA, and Wolves’ health project, to offer a depth of support that cannot be achieved through traditional routes.
Councillor Michael Hardacre, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, who attended at celebratory event at Molineux Stadium, said: “Hearing from and meeting young people from different backgrounds who have changed their lives through working hard and not giving up has been incredibly inspiring.
“This is great news for the city and very important in contributing to our city priorities for reducing youth unemployment and ensuring our young people aspire, achieve and have the best opportunities.”
The City of Wolverhampton Council itself employs seven Impact key workers to provide one-to-one support to young people to move into employment and training across the city. It also has a dedicated progression officer working alongside businesses and training providers.
