WIREDGOV

It stopped Steph reaching breaking point, gave Hywel a new appetite for working life and stopped teenager Chris from heading down a slippery slope to nowhere. Recently the Big Lottery Fund can reveal that these three people were among thousands in Wales to benefit from £14 million from the Big Lottery Fund and European Social Funds.

Since being launched in 2009, 5,186 people have been supported by projects that received funding through the Life Skills programme. Some 1,252 participants have been helped back into employment and 2,066 have gained qualifications that will help them in the workplace.

And through the 22 projects funded in Wales, specific groups have benefitted including economically inactive or unemployed people such as carers, care leavers and older people.

Nearly 80 per cent of participants said it had made them more satisfied with life with many citing that their job prospects had improved significantly.

Big Lottery Fund’s Wales Director John Rose said: “We’re delighted with the impact of the programme. To be able to say we have helped over 3,000 people in Wales get back into work or gain qualifications is a huge achievement during a time of huge economic downturn.

“It’s amazing to be able to make a difference to one person’s life but to do it to this number of people, which will have knock on effects on so many others in terms of improving whole families’ happiness and well being and so on, is hugely satisfying.”

Funds, which were distributed through the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO), also helped people find opportunities for training, volunteering and work experience.

The Shaw Trust in Neath received funding for three Life Skills projects, benefitting people who were either over 50 or from economically inactive families. It helped 447 gain employment and over 1,300 people achieve basic or accredited qualifications.

Project Manager Michael Dix-Williams said: “The projects have reached out to groups of people that have been left out in the cold by mainstream employment provisions. The projects have provided an opportunity for people to develop their skills, confidence and potential in a way they would have not been able to otherwise, and having been given these opportunities people have achieved some outstanding outcomes.”

Pembrokeshire Council’s Experience Counts project has supported nearly 400 older people from the area. It aimed to help 60 people gain employment but the success of the scheme meant this nearly doubled to 118.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Councillor Keith Lewis, said: “The Experience Counts project has been a terrific success in Pembrokeshire and is responsible for changing the lives of many of our older workers for the better.

“As well as helping unemployed and economically inactive people aged over 50 in Pembrokeshire find work, it has also sustained them so that many are still in work after six or 12 months.

“This has been thanks to a dedicated and capable team in the Council’s Regeneration Division, but also due to the financial support of the European Social Fund and Big Lottery Fund.”

Projects in north Wales included NEWVOL which has benefitted 381 carers and former carers, with the majority gaining qualifications or volunteering and employment opportunities.

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