Resources

The Resources section is a rich source of constantly updated information about how ESF funding supports providers in delivering successful European Social Fund projects. ESF-Works’ Resources are an indispensable source of learning and advice, including multimedia interviews, key policy documents, practical project materials, and useful toolkits to help you discover the keys to successful project delivery.

Interviews

Stay up-to-date with new developments or explore older ESF News items and newsletters to find out what’s happening with the European Social Fund across England.

ESF funding in the West Midlands

Employment and skills

Graduate and higher-level skills are key to improving productivity levels. The West Midlands Graduate Internship programme offers employers access to graduate-level skills while giving recent graduates necessary work experience to start their careers. Key workers from the Stoke College Flexible Routeway support a wide range of clients, including graduates, by setting up and monitoring work placements. These allow participants to get essential experience on their CV which, in many cases, has led to positive job outcomes.

ESF funding in the West Midlands

ESF projects in the West Midlands have had great success in working with employers, trade unions and training providers to deliver increased redundancy and pre-redundancy support. Better West Midlands offers re-training for those facing redundancy, ensuring that the qualifications meet local employer needs and job availability, and supporting development priorities for sustainable employment.

Apprenticeships in the West Midlands are above the national average, and NEET numbers have decreased. However, NEET rates remain high in urban areas containing high concentrations of young people and neighbourhoods in which worklessness is endemic. Capitalising on the key role of the third sector to reach and deliver services to the most disadvantaged, ESF funding in the West Midlands has made a significant difference to all ages through community grants.

Learnplay Foundation successfully engaged young people from neighbourhoods of wide ethnic diversity through the use of familiar gaming technologies, and worked in partnership with other organisations to maximise progression to further learning or training
In the Black Country, Pisces West Midlands coordinated numerous community-embedded organisations to deliver a wide range of training opportunities for unemployed people over the age of 50
The Power Up project worked with disadvantaged ethnic minority women in Wolverhampton, developing their confidence and skills through theatre workshops, culminating in a conference organised by the women themselves.

Barriers to employment in the West Midlands

The West Midlands has an increasingly ethnically diverse population and ethnic groups often suffer a higher rate of unemployment and lower qualifications achievement levels, and are more likely to live in deprived areas. Other groups who experience multiple barriers and may need specialist support to become employment-ready include offenders, people with disabilities or long-term health problems (including mental illness), lone parents, older workers and women.

ESF programmes in the West Midlands continue to provide an innovative range of services and activities to meet the individual needs of hard-to-reach people and the long-term unemployed in the most disadvantaged communities. The Jericho Foundation programme combined Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) with work experience within local community businesses, including their own social enterprises, providing continued support and creating opportunities for those furthest from the labour market.

ESF funding is channelled nationally through Jobcentre Plus (the Department of Work and Pensions), the Skills Funding Agency, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and Innovation, Transnational and Mainstreaming (ITM). ITM projects in the 2007–2010 funding round have been working under the themes of Active Inclusion, Engaging with Employers and Climate Change.