ESF funding in London has helped to deliver a number of projects, including:

• 5 Borough Single Point of Access programme, supported those furthest from the labour market back into work via a "no wrong door" approach across five London boroughs
• LO12 South London Intensive Job Search programme demonstrated how Working Links successfully developed a sustained partnership with Debenhams in Oxford Circus to help participants into real jobs
• Generating Opportunities, supports young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in London, back into further learning, training and work
• In-Touch and PIANO Media for Development support offenders and ex-offenders to move towards further learning and employment by building confidence and developing creative methods of engagement.
• Working Futures specifically works with people with mental health issues, supporting them in gaining employment and also staying in employment
• Milton Skills for Life works with people recovering from drug and alcohol misuse, developing creative, specialist and successful approaches to both engaging and retaining this hard-to-reach group

ESF projects in London address skills gap

Skills are polarised, so that the increase in Londoners with high-level skills is contrasted by the larger percentage with low or no qualifications. The latest National Employer Skills Survey, published in March 2010, shows that slightly more London employers reported a skills gap in their workforce in 2009 than in 2007 (17.2% compared to 17% respectively).

In 2009, skills gaps were greater in England as a whole than in London, with 19% of employers reporting gaps in England as a whole compared to 17.2% in London (NESS). Basic skills are a considerable challenge. The London Development Agency (LDA) calculates that 1 million Londoners lack functional literacy skills and a further 2.4 million lack functional numeracy skills.

• Tribal's ESF Skills for Life and Work at Ford Motor Company recognises the problem and has a successful work based learning programme which focuses on literacy and numeracy
• Capital Training Groups' Train to Gain is an example of a project which supports the upskilling of the current workforce
• Newham College's Skills for Climate Change is an example of a project which upskills the current workforce and helps to prepare them for jobs in the future
• Working Links' Marks & Start aims to support workless people back into employment by building their employability skills and developing interview techniques. Once in work, the projects provide in work support to help ensure sustained job outcomes.