MORE than £1.1m of EU and Big Lottery Funding is to be made available to organisations in Worcestershire to support the development of skills to help overcome barriers to work, education and training.

This money is in addition to £2m that was opened for bids in 2015 for two allied projects, making a total of £3.2m of funding investment for county projects through Building Better Opportunities.

A project is being sought in the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership area to improve access to lifelong learning and support to boost the local economy, working alongside local employers. Worcestershire LEP has identified the issues challenging some of its communities and the opportunity that funding can bring to address them. The project will improve people’s access to tailored lifelong skills training and boost the local economy.

A total of £1,130,100 is available for the Worcestershire project and interested parties are being urged to come forward as soon as possible ahead of the deadline of Thursday, November 24. The funding will be managed by the Big Lottery Fund and will give voluntary, community and social enterprise groups access to this wider European Social Fund money.

The project is part of Worcestershire LEP’s remit to ensure businesses, local government, third sector, higher and further education work together with a common, shared purpose, to create the conditions for economic growth, increasing prosperity and delivering the 10-year strategic economic plan for Worcestershire.

Gary Woodman, chief executive of Worcestershire LEP, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for local organisations to receive support from the Big Lottery Fund and European Social Fund to create projects that overcome barriers to work, education and training. Local businesses will benefit from the development of individuals skills and will help to create further job opportunities, further boosting the local economy.

“I would encourage all organisations interested in delivering this support for local people and communities to visit the Big Lottery Fund website at the earliest opportunity to find out more and apply ahead of the deadline.”

All projects must be started by July to November 2017 and must be completed by July 2020 latest. Full details of all the projects outlined in this round are available on the Big Lottery Funding website, www.biglotteryfund.org.uk, as well as details of how to apply for this current round of funding by the deadline of Thursday, November 24.