INNOVATIVE PROJECT TO TACKLE UNEMPLOYMENT IN TYNE AND WEAR
Mental Health Concern is delighted to announce the award of a contract to deliver an innovative new project called Moving On Tyne & Wear, which will support over 1,600 unemployed local people across the Tyne and Wear area. The project is jointly funded by the Big Lottery Fund and the European Social Fund.
In Tyne and Wear, long-term sickness is the cause of over 28% of economic inactivity. Moving On Tyne & Wear will support people aged 25+ who have complex health issues and may also face other barriers to work, such as long-term unemployment, debt, low skills, or housing issues.
The project, led by Mental Health Concern and supported by the Northern Inclusion Consortium (NIC), will encourage, motivate, and support people to tackle the health and wellbeing issues that can often act as barriers to employment.
The combined expertise of the NIC and the wider partnership of providers creates a unique opportunity to collectively address issues including health, housing, addictions, and criminal justice. The project will help people to overcome entrenched problems regarding long-term health conditions, in order to progress towards and into sustained employment.
Moving On Tyne & Wear will engage with a range of partners, stakeholders, and local employers in order to meet the individual needs of each participant. Activities provided will include one-to-one support, access to training, volunteering, work placements, support with job interviews and writing CVs, peer mentor programmes, and self-employment advice.
Mental Health Concern is one of the North East’s leading charities, supporting and caring for people with mental health issues through a wide range of services which are predominantly commissioned by the NHS and local authorities. Mental Health Concern is one of the four founding members of the NIC, a well-established partnership of respected not-for-profit organisations that help people with complex needs in the North of England. In addition to Mental Health Concern, the Consortium also includes Changing Lives, DISC, and Groundwork NE & Cumbria.
Brendan Hill, Chief Executive of Mental Health Concern, commented:
Many people in our society have been too far away from the labour market for too long. Moving On Tyne & Wear will allow us to address this issue directly, by helping to equip local people with the skills and confidence needed to support them in their journey towards employment. This will be a benefit not just to the participants, but also to our local businesses and economy.
–ENDS–
NOTES FOR EDITORS
- For more information about Moving On Tyne & Wear, please contact:Liam Gilfellon on liam.gilfellon@mentalhealthconcern.org or 0191 217 0377.
- The Northern Inclusion Consortium (NIC) partners are as follows:
- Mental Health Concern: mentalhealthconcern.org
- DISC: disc-vol.org.uk
- Groundwork NE & Cumbria: groundwork.org.uk/sites/northeast
- Changing Lives: changing-lives.org.uk
The Big Lottery Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK. It puts people in the lead to improve their lives and communities, often through small, local projects.
It is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Every year it invests over £650 million and awards around 12,000 grants across the UK for health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
Since June 2004 it has awarded over £8 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people.
The project has received up to £4,800,000 of funding from the Big Lottery Fund and the European Social Fund as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England. The Department for Work and Pensions is the Managing Authority for the England European Social Fund programme. Established by the European Union, the European Social Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support skills development, employment and job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding