East Sussex College invests £1m in free adult education in response to pandemic

East Sussex College group has announced it is investing £1 million in adult education over the next year to help communities hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
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The college group – which has campuses in Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, and Newhaven – will be delivering free courses and qualifications to help local businesses, employees and job seekers.

Dan Shelley, executive director at East Sussex College, said, “We are very excited to launch this investment as part of our wider support package for local businesses and communities during these difficult times.

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“We want to be as responsive and flexible in our approach as possible, working with partners to provide the right training at the right time as we move out of lockdown and would welcome further discussions with any organisation that can help us shape what is needed to support the economic recovery.”

East Sussex College in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)East Sussex College in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)
East Sussex College in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby)

The college group is currently supporting workers who have been furloughed by providing free online training courses. It is also providing mental health first aid training for employers so they can effectively support their teams while working remotely.

This new announcement will mean that adults across Sussex, who are claiming Universal Credit, will have access to pre-employment training programmes that are directly linked to job opportunities. These courses will lead to certificates and skills over a 1-3 week period.

College leavers and university graduates will also benefit from the pledge as they will have access to bespoke employability training programmes to better equip them for the challenging labour market following their studies.

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The fund will also be used to help existing workers and volunteers to improve their digital skills and support business start-up training.

Working in partnership with East Sussex County Council, local authorities, local enterprise partnerships, the Department for Work and Pensions, Let’s Do Business Group and Sussex Chamber of Commerce, the college is gathering intelligence in order to provide the most effective mix of training that will benefit employers and their staff as well as those looking for work.

Cllr Rupert Simmons, lead member for economy at East Sussex County Council, said, “We are really pleased to hear that following the pandemic, East Sussex College Group is planning to allocate £1m of its Adult Education Budget to support economic recovery in East Sussex.

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“We are happy to be working with the college to identify how this money can be best used to help our local businesses and residents develop skills for resilience and growth over the coming months.”

Graham Peters, chairman of Team East Sussex, said, “The pledge is a tremendously powerful and proactive response to the Covid 19 crisis from East Sussex College.

“It supports businesses and residents with the skills needed to kick-start the recovery and it’s particularly good to see that it’s being developed in partnership with the other key organisations in the county: local authorities, Chambers of Commerce, careers providers and other further and higher education organisations.

“It will be a very strong supporting link in the Team East Sussex economy recovery plan which we are working on urgently right now and we would urge all of the County’s businesses and individuals to take advantage of this terrific offer.”

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A number of short online courses are already available through the college’s website www.escg.ac.uk/million-pound-pledge, and the sector-based work academies, which will feature blended learning, are planned for later this summer.

To find out more you can email [email protected]

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