Age of Opportunity
For people aged 50+ who would like to return to work
Lancashire Mind is a delivery partner in Lancashire's Age of Opportunity project. The Age of Opportunity is part of the nationwide Building Better Opportunities programme, funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund to help tackle the poverty and social exclusion faced by the most disadvantaged people in England.
The Age of Opportunity project has been designed specifically to meet the needs of over 50s who would like to work but are unable to without additional skills or support. A core focus for this project is supporting older people who are most at risk of social exclusion, for example; due to mental or physical health difficulties, homelessness or being full-time carers.
Through this project, delivery partners work with participants to understand their interests, aspirations and barriers to work or training. Each individual is then directed within our thematic partner network for specialist support that will help them to engage in work readiness activity.
The Age of Opportunity project was extended due to the success of its first 3 years’ delivery. As a result, the partnership will support 2504 people over the age of 50 through the project's lifetime to overcome their barriers and move closer to employment, education or training. This project is delivered exclusively by social enterprises and community organisations and we are proud to be part this specialist partnership whose work is transforming lives across Lancashire.
Our partnership’s most recent quarterly results show that Age of Opportunity has already engaged 1250 people over 50 who are 'hard to reach' and have multiple and complex barriers to work. As a direct result of the support received from this project, over 200 people have overcome the challenges they were facing and are now employed, self-employed or in training.
For more information about the Age of Opportunity project, please email Maira Butt at [email protected] or call her on 07964058027.
Click here for a referral form to the Age of Opportunity project.
Building Better Opportunities
Age of Opportunity is one of three Building Better Opportunities projects in Lancashire being delivered by a partnership of over 40 organisations, led by Selnet (the Social Enterprise Lancashire Network).
‘Age of Opportunity’ supports people over 50, ‘Invest in Youth’ supports 15-24-year olds and ‘Changing Futures’ supports people with multiple and complex barriers to employment. Over three years, these three specialist projects will help transform the lives of 3270 disadvantaged people based on their individual needs and interests, helping them to overcome complex barriers and move towards work and training.
Building Better Opportunities is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and the European Social Fund (ESF) 2014-2020, and is investing in local projects tackling the root causes of poverty, promoting social inclusion and driving local jobs and growth.