Sussex colleges receive £7m in funding
A group of Sussex colleges is to receive more than £7million in government funding to provide skills training in sustainable industries, including electric vehicle training centres and alternative energy.
The funding is from the Department for Education’s Strategic Development Fund, which is being distributed to support colleges, with a focus on long-term skills and priorities of local areas.
A consortium of colleges led by Chichester College Group (CCG) includes Bexhill College, BHASVIC, the College of Richard Collyer, East Sussex College Group, Greater Brighton Metropolitan Group (GB Met), Plumpton College and Varndean College.
They will work together to deliver five projects: alternative energy and hydrogen technologies (led by CCG); land management strategies and practices for environmental land management schemes (led by Plumpton College, with Brinsbury College); electric vehicle training centres (led by GB Met); decarbonisation academies in Sussex (led by East Sussex College Group); and establishing carbon literacy and sustainability awareness (led by BHASVIC).
Shelagh Legrave, chief executive of Chichester College Group, said: “This is a fantastic boost for skills training and development across the whole Sussex region.
“Businesses have been struggling to recruit people with the right skills, and while colleges do a fantastic job in skills training, there are some industry gaps where the right equipment or expertise may not be available to deliver the best training.
“Working collaboratively with partners at other colleges across the whole of the Sussex region reflects the need to develop a region-wide approach to improving skills-training and will hugely benefit young people and employers in our local areas.”
Dr Tim Strickland, consultant chief executive of FE Sussex, added: “All our member colleges are proud to have been selected to be part of this large scale multi-faceted project, the development of which shows the advantages of working together for the benefit of students and employers.
“It will enable Sussex colleges to place the Green agenda at the heart of today’s teaching and learning and give students and employers the knowledge and skills of tomorrow.”
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