Lottery funding boosts £2m employment programme for Notts youth

Nearly £900,000 funding from Big Lottery’s Life Chances Fund has been secured to change the lives of more than 500 young people across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

The money will bolster a project set up by a local partnership between Futures, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council, to provide targeted employment and skills support to young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).

The ‘Future U’ project works on an innovative ‘payment by results’ approach, which targets resources to help the young people most at need of employment and skills support.

Thanks to the support of the Life Chances Fund, we are adding to our local resources, to create a project that will invest more than £2 million in the scheme.

The project is a Social Impact Bond, meaning Social Investors provide projects with up front funding and are reimbursed by government only when projects meet agreed results. Social Impact Bonds are still a new commissioning tool. With between 30 and 40 live projects, the UK is at the forefront of the sector. Futures has already successfully delivered one Social Impact Bond and are excited to take this opportunity to grow the company’s expertise and experience with ‘Future U’.

‘Future U’ will support more than 500 young people over five years to achieve qualifications, complete training and enter employment.

John Yarham, Chief Executive of Futures, said:

“This funding enables us to target our resources and provide a range of support to those in the most need. Getting into work and training can be a minefield for anyone, so for young people with more complex needs, it can feel virtually impossible. Our advisers are there to provide that extra level of support to young people with specific requirements, to help guide them through their training and career path.”

‘Future U’ will allow Futures to offer long term support – up to 15 months – for those young people who need it most, adding huge value to the services already available in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

Funding could not have been secured without the close collaboration of all three partners and is a testimony to our strong partnership.