These UK Shared Prosperity Fund projects in Edinburgh are under the People and Skills theme.
This theme reduces the barriers some people face to employment and support them to move towards employment and education.
It has two main elements:
Apex help those with a history of offending or at risk of offending to progress into training and work.
Apex will deliver a new sector-based skills academy called Strides, targeting sectors that are experiencing recruitment challenges.
Individuals get one-to-one support, life and career skills, and access to training and sector-based placements.
The project will also engage with employers to understand their needs and skills gaps.
The MacMillan Skills Hub based in North Edinburgh will offer a local corridor of support in an area of high deprivation. There is a focus on access to training, career advice and job matching to opportunities created through the significant regeneration plans at the Waterfront development.
Making Work Work supports women returning to the labour market. The programme connects women and offers opportunities to learn, collaborate, create, catalyse change and make work work.
Volunteering opportunities for women to support those affected by sexual violence. Volunteers will develop transferable trauma-informed skills and knowledge. Each person will take part in a bespoke rape crisis training program and complete a supervised long-term placement at ERCC.
Works4Women is an employability programme that supports women who have experienced domestic abuse. It is run by Edinburgh Women’s Aid in partnership with Shakti Women’s Aid (which serves women in the minority ethnic community). The UK Shared Prosperity Fund funds the continuation and expansion of the service.
The All in Edinburgh consortium will deliver a supported employment model increasing jobs and supports the retention of jobs for those clients furthest removed from the labour market.
NKS will empower South Asians through building capacity and resilience and by using a person-centred and bespoke approach where people can develop their skills to improve their life chances.
Examples of activities include digital skills, confidence building and welfare rights advocacy with bi-lingual support.
People Know How is partnering with organisations in local communities to run weekly digital and well-being support sessions.
Funding is supporting a new depot in Gorgie, and the flagship community programme Shifting Gears. Shifting Gears is an evidence-based approach to support marginalised communities and those from low-socioeconomic backgrounds to recover from the pandemic, mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and climate emergency, enhance life and employment skills, and provide much-needed work experience and employment opportunities.
The grant supports several of Action for Children’s employability projects including Youth Build, an industry-recognised construction training programme, a customer service and hospitality training programme and the Aiming High programme.
Barnardos Employment Skills Training programme is for 15 – 29-year-olds. It offers personal development opportunities and a range of options supporting young people in training, education and career progression.
The Prince’s Trust offers courses offered for young people aged 11-30, supporting them to develop essential life skills, get ready for work and access job opportunities.
Funding particularly supports the Get Into programme, which helps those closer to the labour market, and the Explore programme, designed for those further away from moving into work.
The Learning, Employability, and Purpose (LEAP) programme will support 10 women facing barriers to employment to return to work through an 8–10-week volunteering placement. The placement will be accompanied by management and leadership training. In parallel, training and support will be offered to third sector organisations in how to find, recruit, and retain this talent through flexible working and positive workplace cultures.
Individuals from the South Asian community will be supported with digital learning and English conversation to enhance their basic career skills. Twenty individuals will be supported one-to-one, to improve their digital and English-speaking skills and to decrease the barriers they face in accessing the labour market.
Volunteering Vibes aims to build community and office-based volunteering capacity within Edinburgh, creating opportunities that develop skills, confidence, and relationships long-term. This project includes immediate volunteer recruitment, training, and support, as well as building a foundation of activity and collaborations to consistently deliver more city-wide volunteering opportunities past the funding period.
Lend a Hand will support people over 50, who are economically inactive, to re-enter the labour market, by providing community-based learning and development opportunities in joinery, horticulture, and construction, within community greenspace/growing projects across the city.
Additional ESOL provision at Fresh Start will support new Scots to make a life for themselves in Scotland. The programme will support the social integration, language development skills, and employability opportunities of new Scots and refugees living in the northwest locality of Edinburgh.
It focusses on developing language skills, empowering and helping service users access support more easily, and making new connections with the overall aim to increase participants' employability prospects.
This project will provide two ‘English as a Second Language’ classes per week for up to 30 people from community groups in Southwest Edinburgh, helping to promote community cohesion, and integration into Scottish society. The classes will also foster employment and learning outcomes for adults aged 16+.
The Edinburgh Supported Employment Consortium will deliver digital skills courses to clients who have disabilities and health conditions to boost digital inclusion and enhance the life skills of 80 individuals from Edinburgh’s most disadvantaged groups. Topics will include IT confidence, computing skills for employability, managing your money, social media and staying safe online.
This additional funding will extend the current MacMillan Skills Hub capacity to reach out and engage with 40 additional people who are economically inactive. The Hub will also run a 50+ Transferable Skills Academy and a Green Skills Academy with employers offering a guaranteed interview. The latter will link into the Green Freeport vision.
Additional funding will make provision for 40 people who are unemployed and who are homeless or with experience of homelessness to gain skills, experience, and qualifications in food hygiene and preparation. Many participants are expected to be over the age of 50.
e. helix@capitalcitypartnership.org
Capital City Partnership is the anchor delivery body for Edinburgh’s employability strategy, working together to tackle inequality and poverty. Capital City Partnership is an Arms Length External Organisation of The City of Edinburgh Council and a not-for-profit registered charity (SCO31026).
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