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Greater Manchester awarded £9.7m to improve health and unemployment
Greater Manchester is to benefit from £9.7m over the next three years to tackle poverty and improve people’s skills and health to help them back into employment and training.
The money from the Big Lottery Fund and European Social Fund’s Building Better Opportunities project has been awarded to Manchester Athena’s Motiv8 programme which will be delivered by five housing providers across the region.
The programme aims to improve the lives of the most vulnerable people aged 25+ who may be homeless, long-term unemployed, living with disabilities and health conditions, or drug and alcohol dependent.
It aims to tackle the barriers that prevent these groups of people from accessing support with more opportunities for education and training, improved health and wellbeing services, better financial help and new programmes to build people’s confidence.
The funding will also work with men and women who are under-represented in the labour-market such as ex-offenders, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups, ethnic minorities and migrant communities.
As the lead organisation for Motiv8, Tameside-based social landlord New Charter Group will work with housing partners ForViva, Stockport Homes, Wythenshawe Community Housing Group and Bolton at Home to deliver the Motiv8 programme across Greater Manchester.
The project is one of 38 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas in the country to be awarded Building Better Opportunities funding.
It will be delivered according to local priorities and is an example of how other programmes could be run as a result of new devolution powers.
Other specialist partners which are supporting the project across the region are; Wai Yin Society, Shelter, Home-Start, Migrants Supporting Migrants, LGBT Foundation, Challenge 4 Change and One Manchester.
Ian Munro, Chair of Manchester Athena and Chief Executive of New Charter Group said: “This project will help people who are the furthest away from the labour market to take steps towards improving their lives and we’re delighted to receive the funding.
“It is much needed funding for Greater Manchester and by bringing some of the largest housing providers in the region together, we’re in a much stronger position to deliver better services for the needs of our communities.”
The Bolton at Home Group is tackling homelessness and promoting ‘Social Dialogue for Human Dignity’, supported by funding from Erasmus+.