St Ives Town Deal Enterprise Grants scheme is seeking expressions of interest from organisations to create a new flagship centre for providing high quality training, technology and digital skills opportunities in the town.
Part of the St Ives Town Deal regeneration programme, the project will be funded through a new £1m Training and Skills Capital Fund.
Aimed at improving facilities for delivering training and skills in St Ives through face to face and digitally delivered means, and increasing accessibility to digital technologies for both businesses and residents, the project will help to ensure that the town plays a full role in the fast-growing high-tech community in Cornwall and the wider region.
“We are inviting expressions of interest from organisations to deliver a major capital project to create a high quality, digitally enabled flagship centre for training, technology and digital skills within the St Ives Town Deal area”, said Town Deal Enterprise Grant Co-ordinator Elizabeth Gilbert.
“Applicants will need to show how they will engage with skills providers and explain how their project will enable better training and skills access in St Ives and fuel growth in the digital / tech sector, making sure that every resident has access to the digital and data skills required in the modern world.”
Building on the work of Cornwall Council’s Digital Futures Programme and the Digital Skills Partnership Strategy, the new centre will be expected to:
As well as enabling access to emerging creative digital technologies, including VR and rapid product prototyping and testing; the new centre could offer shared technical support for recording and filming and editing and managing web and other platforms, and provide training spaces, workspace and meeting / collaboration space for use by the local community and start-ups or micro businesses.
The training and Skills Capital Fund will provide up £1m towards the capital cost of providing the new centre, such as building works and equipment. Other costs, such as salaries, software and training provision must come from other sources.
The centre must be located within the St Ives Town Deal area.
“This is a very exciting project which is designed to help more local people acquire skills and secure higher paid jobs,” said Gareth Jones, Vice Chair of St Ives Town Deal Board. “It will also help existing local businesses to expand and diversify into new growth sectors, and support new start-ups in the fast growing digital economy.”
Louis Gardner, Cornwall Council cabinet member for economy, said: “Cornwall is at the forefront of digital innovation and skills development. Cornwall’s digital sector has grown by 76% since 2010, and we’re committed to help it grow and flourish even more. This initiative will bring St Ives into the digital fold and ensure its residents and businesses benefit from this thriving industry and play their part in its future success.”
The deadline for submitting expressions of interest is 9 am on Monday, August 21. These will be reviewed by the St Ives Town Deal Board in September, with successful applications receiving invitations to submit full applications in early October.
For more information about the project please visit: www.cornwall.gov.uk/towndealgrants or contact Town Deal Enterprise Grants Co-ordinator Elizabeth Gilbert at [email protected]
