Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities (NLDC) Funded Projects

The NLDC programme explored approaches which enabled resources to be targeted at specific local priorities:  

Supporting activity that links skills development to sustained employment for adults aged 19+ not currently in employment, but who want to work;

Training local people to develop roles in community leadership or as ‘Community Champions’;

Encouraging the acquisition of neighbourhood, civil renewal and active citizenship skills, knowledge and behaviours;

Developing new ways of delivering relevant curriculum to attract excluded and under-represented groups into learning, including working with target groups to develop meaningful and engaging learning contexts;

Activity that contributes to neighbourhood renewal;

Employability and occupational training tailored to individual needs.

To achieve these aims WLLA commissioned projects that contained the following ‘ingredients’ 

• Innovation – by introducing new contexts to approaches that have been proven elsewhere;
• Sustainability – by meeting long term unmet needs but in a supported environment;
• Partnerships – in order to extend and add value to existing provision; 
• Work that specifically targets the 3 D’s – the disadvantaged, disillusioned and disengaged.
• Work that aligns with local priorities and targets contained in Walsall’s LAA.
• Wards that have been identified as the most deprived, within the Walsall LAA, but may not have benefited from NLDC interventions in the past. 

More specifically, objectives were to tackle specific local issues, while ensuring the above aims are achieved:

• A reduction in the number of people falling into the NEET (Not in employment, education or training) category; 

• Action that enhanced the prospects of those from disadvantaged/disconnected communities for the world of work;

• Linking the economically inactive to employment and training opportunities;
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WLLA also worked with voluntary/community organisations to support the further development of the sector.  This included supporting organisations in enterprise development.

The projects attempted to identify what the skills gaps are in the sector and potential routes for progression for organisations and the individuals working within those organisations.  

WLLA will continue to identify specific training and development needs within the Voluntary sector, to enable such organisations to be in a position to deliver relevant outputs that will contribute to LAA targets.