Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council: The WorkShop

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council in collaboration with Realise charity and other local partners have launched the Workshop, an Employment, Training and Skills Hub in the town centre. Utilising its successful bid for Accelerated Town Deal Funding the council repurposed a vacant shop situated in the town centre to create the hub. Through this space, local residents are provided with personalised career support to help them access training, employment or education advice to facilitate their ambition to deliver an economically prosperous and inclusive borough.

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The challenge

Newcastle-under-Lyme in North Staffordshire has a mix of urban and rural communities, with different demographic characteristics, including a number of areas among the 20 per cent most deprived on the Index of Multiple Deprivation. The council serves a population of 130,000, and has a vision of providing good local services, developing a prosperous borough, and safe and welcoming places for all.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough council works closely with its partner Aspire Housing to coordinate Newcastle Employment and Skills Group (NESG), a well-established local network of service and education providers. NESG partners are experts in their field, have an in-depth knowledge of the local area and the associated employment and skills issues that need addressing. The group works to address specific local employment and skills issues, ensure that where possible a holistic approach is taken, raise awareness of the extent of worklessness in the local area and identify and implement good practice where appropriate. The Group had long standing aspirations to establish a town centre space where all partners could deliver advice and support for people seeking training and work, enabling access to all the information needed in one place in a highly accessible informal setting.

The solution

NESG proposed the launch of the WorkShop to deliver their ambition of establishing a space in the town centre for employment support. A long-term vacant shop in the Grade 2-listed Lancaster Building in the heart of the town had proven uneconomic for the council to refurbish for commercial use. Accelerated Town Deal Funding transformed it into a bright and welcoming space, conveniently placed in the town centre, which is friendly and accessible for people at the start of their employment and skills journey. Realise Charity, the project lead, has a lease on a peppercorn rent. The shop refurbishment is merely the catalyst for services to be brought together. Realise Charity agreed to fully fund a full-time coordinator and have attracted European Social Funds to cover running costs. A range of local service providers have realigned resources and committed to provide services from the WorkShop, which was formally launched in September 2021.

The WorkShop is one of a number of linked projects that are shaping a new way forward for Newcastle town centre as the council responds to the move away from a traditional retail focus to other ways of bringing the community together.

The impact

Over the initial three-year project, 200 people will be encouraged into volunteering, training and employment, targeting those who are furthest away from the labour market. Learning from previous experience of delivery in a nearby community demonstrated the benefit of a holistic approach to moving people closer to employment and overcoming barriers to participation. 

The council’s key message is that partnership working along with in depth local knowledge is essential for the effective delivery of services with local communities. A challenge remains in attracting long term funding to provide ongoing support to those who need it most. Actions to level up access to employment need longer-term funding to tackle complex and challenging local issues. Local delivery and consistency of approach is what builds trust and confidence in our ability to meet community needs.

Council Leader Cllr Simon Tagg commented: “One of the council’s key priorities is growing people and places; building a strong and sustainable economy to ensure opportunities and support are available to everyone so that they can improve their lives.

“Through our work with partners to develop an investment plan for Newcastle’s Town Deal – and respond to growing challenges during the pandemic – it became clear that there is a real need for something like this in Newcastle. Together we’ve made this happen and I’m delighted the WorkShop is now open. It is a fantastic addition to the town centre.

“Residents can access advice, direct support and sign-posting to help them access or move towards employment through skills development, training and retraining. It’s also fantastic to see a long-term vacant shop being brought back into use.”