Equality and diversity projects are announced

The further education and skills sector is to benefit from a series of projects that will advance equality, diversity and inclusion.
The 44 providers which made successful bids for the Equality and Diversity Partnership Project Fund 2012-2013 have been announced. The fund is a partnership between the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) and the Skills Funding Agency. 
In August, learning providers were invited to bid for grants worth up to £25,000.
As a result of the fund, a diverse group of providers from across the country are to receive money in order to deliver a wide range of projects. In London, as part of the National Careers Service, ‘Prospects Services’ will examine how to improve advice sessions, beyond just improving access, for disabled groups. In Walsall, West Midlands, ‘Performance through People’, a work-based learning provider will be managing a project to encourage young people from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups to take up apprenticeships.  And at HMP Erlestoke, in Wiltshire, there will be a scheme to give inmates a greater understanding of the potential impact of their image on others, with the aim of positively influencing their aspirations and helping to address real and perceived inequalities that get in the way of rehabilitation and resettlement.

A total of 215 bids were received for the fund which was open to organisations in England whose primary function is as a provider of further education and training or (for the first time) a National Careers Service Prime Contractor.
The projects that have been funded will finish by June 2013, but their impact will continue to be studied by LSIS and the Skills funding Agency until 2014.
LSIS Chief Executive, Rob Wye, said: “We were extremely pleased to receive such a high number of applications and staff responsible for choosing the successful bids were faced with some tough decisions. If the fund had been bigger there is no doubt that we would have awarded more grants.
“However we are very excited by the successful bids, especially as they are from a diverse range of providers. LSIS is proud to be able to support the sector through this project fund.”
The partnership between LSIS and the Skills Funding Agency to fund providers in this way to develop and disseminate innovative approaches to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is now in its fourth year, and in the previous three years it supported a total of 57 equality and diversity projects. The projects have been highly successful, pioneering approaches to engaging under-represented groups and delivering high-quality research into their needs. Details of providers’ work and findings are available on the Excellence Gateway.