2243 Life Skills Project for Wales

2243

Big Lottery Fund

6th Floor, 1 Kingsway

Wales

CF10 3JN

KATE RICHARDS Tel: 02920678235

Email:kate.richards@biglotteryfund.org.uk

The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is the largest Lottery Distributor in the UK. In 2006/ 2007 it received over 50 000 applications and currently manages some 38,000 grants. In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund and its predecessors have invested over £600m in projects that support the needs of communities across Wales. In recent years this has included the investment of £7 million in Skills Development through its Stepping Stones programme. To further BIG’s aspirations in this area of work, we have made two successful bids to the Welsh European Fund Office (WEFO), for European Social Funds’ (ESF) to deliver projects that support participants to gain skills and confidence that help them re-engage in education, training volunteering and employment. We refer to our work under these funding streams as the Life Skills Project. The overall aims of the Life Skills project are to: ·Enable participants from the target groups to develop their life skills, increase their confidence and re-engage and continue to access education, learning, volunteering or employment. ·In collaboration with other agencies, develop individual long-term support plans to enable beneficiaries to continue to access and remain in education, learning or employment opportunities. By securing funds under both the EU Convergence Framework and the Regional Competitiveness and Employment Framework, BIG is able to ensure Wales-wide coverage for the Life Skills Project. Following extensive consultation BIG will provide support to the following participant groups through a number of service providers: ·Care Leavers ·Carers and former carers returning to work ·Economically Inactive Families It is likely we will need up to 24 service providers to deliver services across Wales. Through their knowledge and experience of engaging with our specific participant groups the service providers will provide individual packages of support, tailored to an individual’s needs. We will award contracts in the region of £150,000 and £1,000,000: contract durations up to five years. We anticipate issuing two notices for each participant group, one for the Competitiveness area and one for the Convergence area. Approximately six contract notices will be issued between 2009 and 2010: commencing June 2009. BIG would like to point out that whilst the issuing of this PIN notice is expected to be the first step in a wider programme to deliver services for the Life Skills Project, this notice does not commit BIG to procuring any services in the future. The prime objective of the PIN is to enable BIG to engage with the market place in a fair and equitable way and share the context to which the services required will support the Life Skills Project’s aims. Briefing Events will be held in Wales, late April and early May 2009. All organisations wishing to express an interest in this PIN notice should contact kate.richards@biglotteryfund.org.uk and will then be sent an invite to one of BIG’s Briefing Events. Please log onto and register an interest via https://biglotteryfund.bravosolution.co.uk.

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