Employment Project Celebrates Success
May 31, 2023
A project, which supports those facing multiple and complex barriers, has helped over 500 people across Barrow and South Lakeland gain employment, access training and search for jobs.
The Building Better Opportunities My Future project, which started in 2017 to support people aged 18 years and over move towards and into employment, is funded by The European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund, and closes on the 30th of June 2023.
A special event at The Swan Hotel at Newby Bridge was held recently to celebrate participants’ achievements, the success of the project and partnership working, and share learning with stakeholders. Amongst the special guests were High Sheriff Sam Scott, councillor Virginia Taylor, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Communities and Localities, councillor Judith Derbyshire, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, and six of the programme’s participants from Furness and South Lakeland.
The project is led by Cumbria CVS (Council for Voluntary Service) in partnership with three respected local charitable organisations – Right2Work, Women’s Community Matters and Cumbria Addictions Advice And Solutions (CADAS).
The Celebration event showcased a project film produced by Signal Film & Media which highlighted the project’s successes, challenges, and participants’ journeys in their own words.
It also provided an opportunity to give thanks to the partnership staff for their hard work and dedication, as well as highlighting the importance of the project and the significant impact the loss of this vital support will have on local communities, and for those furthest from the labour market.
Cumbria CVS’ Evaluation and Research Officer, Omotayo Opaola, presented statistics from the project’s final Evaluation Report, created by PS Research, which demonstrated the continued need for the project, outlining the challenges and highlighting useful learning.
The presentation and film were both well received with guests asking questions in relation to next steps, with many interested in receiving copies of the final evaluation reports after the event.
Project Manager, Natalia Wealleans-Turner, said “Since 2017 the project has aimed to empower and enable people to take steps to remove and address barriers to secure and maintain employment. This requires holistic wrap-around support to help improve mental health well-being, confidence and autonomy, which in turn helps them become more employment ready. The national Building Better Opportunity Programme and funding sadly comes to an end in June 2023, and Cumbria CVS and our partners have made every endeavour to secure funding to continue a similar project on a smaller scale and are awaiting the outcome of our UK Shared Prosperity application.”
“The project and partnership had evolved, and the partnership team developed and delivered a range of supportive activities and events to enable personal growth, increase social inclusion and improve well-being. Participant activities included a weekly ‘cooking on a budget’ session, Llama walking and photography workshops.”
The final project Celebration saw over 35 guests in attendance, sharing positive feedback about their experiences and working in partnership with project staff. Guests also highlighted that the closure of the project would leave gaps in service provision and that ‘vulnerable people were liable to fall through the cracks’.
For more information about the project visit www.bbomyfuture.org.uk or search for Building Better Opportunities My Future on Facebook.
