The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation (HIWCF) have announced that the Solent Supporting Employment (SSE) Programme has awarded grants totalling £396,000 to 8 organisations across Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight.
The grants are supporting employment projects managed by charities, community groups and organisations across the Solent LEP area, enabling disadvantaged or vulnerable people facing barriers to employment to move closer towards work or into employment.
The projects aim to reach people in black and minority ethnic communities, long-term unemployed, people with disabilities and single-parent families, particularly in areas where deprivation is high.
The SSE Programme was created by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership and is part-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), with generous match funding provided by HIWCF donors, Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council.
Here on the Isle of Wight, Osel Enterprises have been awarded grant money for their ‘Working Towards Wellbeing’ project.
The project will utilise the organisation’s valuable experience and knowledge of supporting people with mental health needs, to help lone parents and parents from disadvantaged and vulnerable families on the Isle of Wight to move closer to employment.
Julie Gladman, Employment Service Lead at Working Towards Wellbeing said:
“We are thrilled to have been awarded this funding that will allow us to set up our ‘Family Employment Advice Service’ for lone parents and troubled families living on the Isle of Wight, delivering a unique combination of support and personalised service provision. This advice service will take a holistic approach enabling parents to access to a socially inclusive life by undertaking voluntary work, training or progressing into paid employment, empowering them to reach their full potential leading on to more choice and control over their lives.”
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Kate Shurety, Interim Chief Executive for HIWCF has said:
“We are delighted to be working with the European Social Fund and our local authority partners in Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton to provide this vital opportunity encouraging local people into work. Our communities have been massively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and this funding will increase employment prospects and outlook for vulnerable local people, giving them the chances that they deserve and making a lasting difference to their lives”.
