MORE than 600 more people in the region will be able to sign up to Skills Bootcamps to help fast track them into jobs.

Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has managed to secure £2.4m in government funding – double the previous year’s allocation.

Delighted LEP officials have urged education providers and businesses to come forward to help deliver the bootcamps.

Covering a wide range of areas such as green skills, digital skills, logistics, and skills in the rail sector, these flexible courses of up to 16 weeks give local employers the opportunity to recruit people with the skills they need or develop the skills of their existing staff.

They also give local residents the chance to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to a guaranteed interview or access new roles and opportunities with their current employer.

To date funding secured by the LEP has allowed 619 people aged 19 or over to attend 34 bootcamps in a host of specialisms to reflect skills gaps and employer need with the current diverse range of courses including rail track maintenance, event security and 3D printing and digital manufacturing.

And now 640 more people from the region are set to benefit from the bootcamps with Cheshire and Warrington LEP securing £2.4m in Department of Education funding for 2024/25 – doubling the £1.2m it received the previous year.

LEP officials are now reaching out to local employers, colleges and independent training providers to express an interest in running a bootcamp in a host of sectors including green skills, logistics, digital skills and construction.

The new bootcamps could cover subject areas as diverse as cyber security, artificial intelligence, engineering, electric vehicle charging, retrofitting, HGV driver training, lab skills and health and social care.

The LEP is also happy to discuss other potential bootcamp options with interested parties based on their own identified skills gaps.

The Skills Bootcamps are available for adults aged 19 and over, who either live or work in Cheshire and Warrington, and who have the right to work in the UK, and therefore can be employed, self-employed or unemployed. 

They are free for all unemployed or self-employed people and for anyone in a job a small contribution from the employer will be required.

Clare Hayward MBE, chair of Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We welcome this additional funding which is testament to the hard work of all involved to deliver skills bootcamps that are matched against the needs and gaps of employers and to ensure Cheshire and Warrington’s workforce can progress and are equipped with the right skills in a fast-changing environment.”

To find out more, whether you are interested as a potential training provider, as an employer or as an individual, go to Skills Bootcamps - Cheshire and Warrington.