£6.5m grant for coast

A bid to secure funding of £6.5 million for the Bridlington and the area has been secured to support community development, business and enterprise along the Yorkshire Coast, with the majority of this money being targeted at Bridlington and Scarborough.

The funding was awarded from the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership’s £85m allocation of EU funds.

The Advantage Coast Programme will be delivered, in partnership with ERYC and Scarborough Borough Council, and gives local organisations and businesses the opportunity to apply for project grants from the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The programme is require to be “community led” and a panel made up of local people from communities along the coast.

Council Jane Evison, cabinet portfolio holder for transforming lifestyles at ERYC, said: “Developing the economy of the coast is an important priority for this council.”
“Securing this funding will make a big difference in improving the lives of our residents by improving their employability skills and in benefiting local businesses by enabling them to expand and grow, creating new jobs.

The programme will run until the end of 2021, even if the UK leaves the EU before that date. Neil Watson, chair of the local action group, said: “Advantage Coast is a great opportunity for local communities to build routes to employment based on a ‘bottom-up’ approach that starts with their needs and aspirations.

Neil explained that the idea of the two funds working together is that we help smaller businesses sustain and grow, creating employment for those who are trained up through the ESF . “We are looking for groups that would not normally access this kind of funding to get in touch with us to see if we can support their projects.”

£6.5m grant for coast

 

 

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