What is external funding for?

External funding allows the College to bid for and undertake projects that our core income from the Learning and Skills Council cannot pay for. This means that we are able to fully support the Skills Agenda and the Worklessness Agenda by utilising this funding to develop new and innovative curriculum and pilot new ideas to tackle the many issues a low skilled workforce presents us with. With this extra funding we can also offer our learners additional help with the cost of equipment, childcare and travel or provide them with further training.

The College is a major provider of skills development in the workplace through its key partnerships with Skills Brokerage agencies, Local Employer Forums and the local authorities. It is also heavily engaged, through its partnership with Job Centre Plus, CXL, many local community-based organisations and once again the local authorities, in addressing the high numbers of people on Incapacity Benefit and Job Seekers Allowance by providing a number of skill development routeways toimprove their skill levels and get them back to work.

Where does the money come from?

The majority of our funding comes from the European Union through the European Social Fund (ESF) or the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), but we also receive large amounts of funding from UK sources such as : -

• Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI)
• Single Regeneration Budget (SRB)
• Working Neighbourhood Fund (WNF)
• North West Development Agency (NWDA)

In addition, we receive a number of one-off grants targeting specific areas for intervention or educational research.

Is this limited to one area or is it College-wide?

Projects are delivered through the College 'Schools' (extending to a variety of community outreach centres) or occasionally through partnership organisations. Many of the ESF projects are collaborations that are developed and delivered through the Lancashire Colleges Consortium, a partnership of the FE colleges across Lancashire, and are therefore delivered county-wide.

Who should I contact to find out more?

The projects are managed and co-ordinated by the External Funding Team, who can be contacted for advice on all project issues and procedures:-