From Gary Foulkes - Customer Services Operations Manager, Knowsley & St Helens, JobcentrePlus
I am delighted with the scale and scope of the proposed Destination Kirkby scheme, and am very hopeful about what it will bring to the area. As Jobcentre Plus Operation Manager for Knowsley and St Helens, based in Kirkby, I see the needs of the community on a daily basis. It is very clear to me that the jobs and skills required to turn the area around and build a more prosperous future demand a major project of this nature. I am also happy to be involved in the Community Liaison Group that has been recently established, and which is helping to co-ordinate the involvement and engagement of a raft of key stakeholders as the proposed scheme develops.
Destination Kirkby strikes me as a fantastic opportunity for local people. The economic benefits for the whole area will be huge. My commitment as a professional in the employment service is to use the resources available to support local people to access the vacancies - and related training - that this regeneration will provide.
As such, Jobcentre Plus have helped establish a partnership group that also involves Kirkby Council, the local college, the Learning and Skills Council, health bodies and Connexions. This partnership group will pool resources to support local people - including many vulnerable individuals - to access training and pre-employment training to upskill them for the workplace.
The long term commitment is also to continue to train and upskill residents to fill the ongoing turnover of jobs, including those that future inward investment will hopefully bring.
This really is an exciting time for Kirkby. Most people locally will be familiar with the chequered history that the area has suffered in relation to jobs, investement and regeneration. I see Destination Kirkby however, as part of a new dawn, where beyond the proposed scheme we can not only attract more business and jobs to the area, but build a local economy that becomes a real point of focus within and beyond the town. The proposal will be good for Kirkby, good for Knowsley and good for Merseyside.
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