£11.3m fund launched to help Londoners get back to work

London Councils and 15 of the capital’s boroughs have launched an £11.3m European Social Fund to help London residents get back to work.

The programme gives financial support to organisations in the participating boroughs to help people into employment, including help with enrolling in further and higher education.

It is aimed at people furthest from the job market and those who do not know how to get the qualifications they may need to find employment.

David Jones, programme manager from the GLE, said: “The whole programme has been very successful in the past. The fund is meant for those smaller organisations on the front line who can give people the sort of support that other larger groups can’t give.”

Last quarter on the previous programme 13,802 people took part though different organisations throughout participating boroughs in the capital.

Of these, 2,819 had been put forward to Further and Higher Education, including NVQs and ESOL.

Previous rounds of funding have helped organisations targeting the over 50s, the homeless and workless families, and helps them gain the qualifications they need for employment.

The programme is funded by boroughs giving money to London Councils which is then matched with funds from the EU Social Fund, doubling the money spent on organisations and their projects in the boroughs.

The projects funded equip individuals with the personal and occupational skills they needs to access and compete effectively in the labour market.

Jones added: ‘We help the smaller groups which can reach the people that Job Centre Plus can’t. On the whole the project is moving from strength to strength.”

The boroughs taking part are Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, City of London Corporation, Croydon, Enfield, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hillingdon, Ealing, Hounslow, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Westminster.

London Councils welcomes tenders from organisations to deliver in one of the boroughs above by the deadline of 31 October.

Bruce Thain