A unique opportunity to develop a new way of supporting people into volunteering and employment roles has been developed in Great Yarmouth – and is looking for a voluntary organisation to take it forward.
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and East Coast College are looking to work with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to pilot a small-scale ground maintenance project, aimed at helping people into volunteer and job opportunities.
The project has been developed as part of the James Paget Hospital’s important role as an ‘anchor institution’ locally, and is being supported by Norfolk’s Inclusive Economy Project, which is led by East Coast College, and funded by the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund.
‘Anchor organisations’ tend to be large organisations, which are rooted in the local community and have the potential to use their spending power to make a positive difference to the local economy. Some ways that they can do this include training and recruiting local people and working with local businesses. Examples of anchor institutions include universities, local authorities, and hospitals.
Jonathan Barber, Director of Strategy and Transformation at the James Paget, said: “Our hospital celebrates its 40th year of fully opening in 2022, so we recognise the important role we play in our community – not just to our patients, but to the people that choose to work for us. We employ over 4500 people in a variety of both clinical and non-clinical roles, and this exciting project is one of many ways we are looking to support our communities in coming to work at our hospital.”
Rachel Bunn, Director of Projects at East Coast College said: “‘This project is a brilliant example of an inclusive economy in action, which will help to address barriers to training, volunteering, and jobs. We know how important the work of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector is in tackling health inequalities, which is why we are looking forward to working with them and the James Paget Hospital on this innovative project.”
The Inclusive Economy Project is making £10,000 available to support this work between October and the end of December. Applicants are invited to work with the James Paget Hospital and East Coast College to develop a project plan, which will involve supporting local people to volunteer on a small-scale ground maintenance project. Findings from this work will then be used to inform a plan for the future.
Voluntary, community and social enterprise organsitions who are interested in working with the James Paget Hospital and East Coast College on this opportunity have until 9am on Tuesday 20th September 2022 to apply. Information packs can be requested by contacting Rachel Bunn at East Coast College at r.bunn@eastcoast.ac.uk
The Inclusive Economy project has received £597,760 from the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.
More details about the East Coast College projects can be found at www.eastcoast.ac.uk/projects
