Medway’s social regeneration programme breaks new boundaries

Medway’s programme of social regeneration has taken a significant step forward with news of the approval of further revenue funding from the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). The project is spearheaded by Medway Council, together with Church in Society and a number of local neighbourhood community partnerships.

This brings the total funding for this significant new flagship project to £751,000, with the majority (£579,000) from SEEDA, alongside contributions from the European Union's Interreg IIIA programme (£50,000), Church In Society (£22,000) and Medway Council (£100,000) which will all benefit disadvantaged neighbourhoods across Medway.

• All Saints, Chatham

• Melville and Brompton

• Brook Lines

• Twydall

• Strood

Reignite has also forged strong links with both statutory and non-statutory agencies across Medway to address the training and employment needs of people who are the most disadvantaged by unemployment.

Among the partners involved in the project are:

• Jobcentre Plus (Chatham);
• Medway Adult Learning Service;
• Prime Advantage;
• University of Kent at Medway;
• NACRO (www.nacro.org.uk/about/intowork.htm);
• Housing associations;
• CVS Medway (www.cvsmedway.org.uk) / North Kent Training Service
• Medway Citizens Advice Bureau;
• Robert Hawkwood Limited;
• Church in Society (www.churchinsociety.org) - First Byte and Next Byte courses;
• North Kent Construction Skills (www.nokcs.co.uk).

Cllr Jane Chitty, the Medway Council portfolio holder with responsibilities for social regeneration, expressed her delight: “This excellent news opens up a whole new dimension to Medway’s programme of social regeneration and Medway’s Neighbourhood Action Plans. It provides essential funds to assist existing communities in Medway with skills training and better access to jobs. We are extremely pleased that SEEDA has granted the council this opportunity to respond to these two high priorities, as expressed by local residents themselves at community workshops that the council has organised in target neighbourhoods across Medway”.

Progress

• Up to 648 people across Medway have benefited from information advice and guidance (IAG) offered on employment, skills training and voluntary service opportunities within 24 months.
• Some of the areas of support given to beneficiaries include childcare training, construction skills development, security industry accreditation and provision of language literacy and numeracy (LLN) courses.
• Neighbourhood Managers across the project area have undertaken Level III OCN accredited training to become certified Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) deliverers, with one manager having already attained Level IV accreditation.