Valuable investment has been secured via the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund scheme to support the local community in a move to promote clean growth and advanced manufacturing in St Helens.
Together to Zero will see local businesses receive funding and skills training to become greener as part of Liverpool City Region’s commitment to become Net Zero carbon by 2040 as well as raising aspirations for young people to pursue exciting sustainable career opportunities in the local region.
St Helens was identified as one of the government’s priority places for investment in skills, local business, and communities and to help people into employment.
St Helens Chamber, in partnership with St Helens Borough Council and Glass Futures*, together with other commissioned partners will be delivering the initiative across three primary strands; workforce training schemes for local businesses, skills development grants for education and training providers and activity workshops with young people showcasing inspiring opportunities for them in emerging sectors in manufacturing and beyond.
Rachel Willacy, at St Helens Chamber, says: “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to work with local businesses, colleges, universities, training providers, schools, and other partners to build foundations that will create a long lasting impact for our local community and economy.
“We hope that it will inspire future generations to see how they can access careers in these growing sectors, informing them about the opportunities available and inspiring them to pursue higher levels of skills training contributing to the workforce of the future.”
Driven by Liverpool City Region’s commitment to become Net Zero carbon by 2040 (following the UN Sustainable Development Goal of achieving Net Zero by 2050), the scheme will improve the skills of management teams and technical staff to contribute to Net Zero principles, whilst growing their businesses and building on current local strengths in the advanced manufacturing and clean growth sectors.
Aston Fuller, General Manager at Glass Futures, says: “This is a huge opportunity for the local economy to gain the skills needed to create clean and green growth within the region. Glass Futures is accelerating research and development for sustainable manufacturing processes and large part of that is training, in order to retain the necessary skills.
St Helens has an incredible heritage in innovative manufacturing, and by up-skilling the local economy in Net Zero and decarbonisation principles this initiative will create a sustainable legacy for future generations.”
Businesses are invited to find out how they can benefit from Together to Zero during a launch event at the 2022 Good Business Festival’s Greater Good series staged in venues across the Liverpool City Region. Together to Zero will be showcased at the ‘St Helens of the Future’ event on Thursday 10 March at the Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens.
More information on the initiative and how to get involved, including how and when to apply for grants and training opportunities, can be found at https://www.sthelenschamber.com/business/together-to-zero/