Community projects in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to support people into work, training and education

The investment is part of the wider Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme (which has seen €600m set aside for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly by Europe) to build on the previous Objective One and Convergence Programmes.

Two opportunities are available:

‘Supporting Young People’ – to provide learning and training opportunities for young people to increase their confidence and learn new skills that will put them on the path to employment.

‘Pathways to Employment’ – to help those furthest from the labour market progress into employment.

These opportunities are designed to help people to overcome a huge range of challenges in their lives and communities. For example, providing specialist support to people living in a rural, isolated area, people who are homeless, have mental health issues, are living with a disability or overcoming addiction issues.

The Big Lottery Fund is working with the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly European Structural Investment Fund and decision-making committee.*

From today, organisations will be able to respond to these opportunities, including voluntary, community and social enterprise groups, who have historically found it hard to apply for and manage EU funding.

Potential applicants with questions about the application process should view the FAQs available herewww.biglotteryfund.org.uk/esf  The closing date for applications is 12 noon 30 November 2015.

Grant competitions are fair, open and competitive and any organisation is eligible to apply, however most of the opportunities will be better suited to partnership working. Full details of all the project outlines in this round are available at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/esf

Big Lottery Fund has also awarded £950,000 to Baker Tilly, in partnership with Ecorys UK, to support potential applicants and grant holders to understand, plan for and deliver the additional requirements that come with managing European funding. For further information about this support visit www.bboesfsupport.com.

A small number of further funding opportunities are expected in early 2016. To be kept informed on the latest Building Better Opportunities news register your interest on the Big Lottery Fund website atwww.biglotteryfund.org.uk/esf.

ENDS

Website:         www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Twitter:          @biglotteryfund #BigLottery

Facebook:      www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

For funding and general enquiries call:

BIG Advice Line: 0345 4 10 20 30

For press enquiries call:

Press Office: 020 7211 1888

Out of hours media contact: 07867 500572

Notes to Editors for Big Lotter Fund:

• Building Better Opportunities is jointly funded with 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, European Social Fund funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, skills development, job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
• In order to support potential applicants and to help grant holders to understand, plan for and deliver the additional requirements that come with managing European funding, Big Lottery Fund has also awarded £950,000 to Baker Tilly, in partnership with Ecorys UK. For further information about this support visit www.bboesfsupport.com.
• The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery for good causes and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
• Since June 2004 the Big Lottery Fund has awarded over £8 billion to projects that make a difference to people and communities in need, from early years intervention to commemorative travel funding for World War Two veterans.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.

Notes to Editors for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme

* For Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the decision making committee is the ITI Board.

The new Programmes will run from 2014-2020. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is the only area in England to qualify as a ‘Less Developed’ region. The Programme will be €603.7 million.

The new Programmes will be part of an ‘EU Growth Programme’ to be financed by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) with a contribution from European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). The Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) will have a key role in implementing and delivering the new Programmes.

ERDF €458 million

ESF €196 million

EAFRD £10 million