WORK is progressing well to establish Thames Freeport as a £1.2m skills funding has been announced to help make sure residents can develop the skills they need to take advantage of the opportunities the freeport will create.
The funding will help providing training to give local people the skills they need to take advantage of the new career opportunities the Freeport will offer. That includes funding which will mean Tilbury Library can increase its opening hours and offer computer training and work readiness programmes as part of the ‘We are Tilbury’ initiative, which will work with the local community to identify barriers to work and training and support new projects including working with schools to provide computers for pupils.
Additionally funding will be made available to establish university bursaries in local secondary schools, help the local voluntary sector and create new university courses in emerging technologies and industries.
Following a report brought to Cabinet updating on progress with the Freeport Cllr John Kent, Leader of Thurrock Council, said: “Thames Freeport is set to create thousands of local jobs, attract £4.6 billion in investment and contribute £5.1 billion to the UK economy a year.
“It will create fantastic opportunities of careers in cutting edge industries and it is great to see that schemes that will help make sure local people can take full advantage of those opportunities are already getting underway.
“It is early days for the Freeport but we are working with them to make sure that as it develops it helps create opportunities for Thurrock’s residents.”
