News

29/04/2008 - New Tees Valley Works Project - Going Forward

Overview of Going Forward Project

The Going Forward Project is a partnership between Hartlepool Borough Council Children's Services, Economic Development Department and the Connexions Service and is a European Social Fund / Learning and Skills Council Co-financed project which will be managed by Tees Valley Works who will lead on all contractual matters relating to project delivery.

The Project was developed to provide targeted interventions to support young people aged 14-19 to prevent them from becoming disengaged from mainstream learning. The Project will support vulnerable young people and re-engage young people who are currently identified as Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) or those in danger of becoming NEET.

The Project will complement the local Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) and 14-19 Strategy by providing additional capacity to existing provision. It will also be a key driver to Hartlepool Borough Council's NEET Reduction Strategy which is currently being implemented. The project will ensure that all partners will be able to contribute to provision and ensure it is fit for purpose and meets the needs of the priority groups.

The project will work across Hartlepool with the following outputs:

400 beneficiaries to start on the project:

120 x 14 - 16 year old

280 x 16 - 18 year old

From the 400 starts:

220 will progress into further learning opportunities;

40 will progress into employment;

48 will progress into voluntary work;

100 will remain in employment 6 months after the intervention.

These objectives will be achieved between March 2008 and December 2010.

The Project will also give additional capacity to support the work of the Connexions Service by increasing the levels of support available to young people. One to one support, along with financial incentive schemes, work taster sessions and pre-employability programmes, will be available, building on existing (successful) NEET reduction projects.

The Going Forward Providers who will be delivering the project are from a diverse range of sectors including the Voluntary and Community Sector, Private Training Providers, Work Based Learning Providers, Local Authority and Mainstream Colleges. A Directory of Opportunity is being compiled detailing the type of provision that will be on offer via each provider and once produced will be forwarded to partners and other relevant organisations for information.