Groups grab a share of £2.5m grants

Renfrewshire projects helping vulnerable people find work or secure training are sharing in new cash grants.

Two groups, Just Learning run by Renfrewshire Council, and Work Read Plus run by West College Scotland, are among initiatives across the country sharing in £2.5 million.

Just Learning wants to improve skills and employment opportunities for folk with convictions, particularly women, to help them turn their lives around.

While Work Reads Plus offers support to adults with mild to moderate learning differences, autistic spectrum disorder, and mental health problems.

The groups will receive funding through the Employability Innovation and Integration Fund to help people access employment and training.

Minister for Employability and Training Jamie Hepburn said: “People affected by homelessness, who have criminal convictions or suffer from mental ill-health face significant barriers to finding work, and it can be challenging to balance the search for a job with the need to access other important services.

“These 13 new projects will join together employability and skills support with health and social care, housing, and justice services that will improve the quality of localised support available for people across the country.

“The work of these projects ties in with the fairer approach we are taking to deliver our newly devolved employment services, where we have removed the threat of sanctions and are providing support that is more flexible, tailored and responsive to people’s needs.”