We are pleased to announce that Havant Borough Council has been successful in bidding to the Health Foundation for nearly £500,000 in funding to support young people into further education, training, apprenticeships and employment in Leigh Park.
The project is part of a £2.1 million scheme called Economies for Healthier Lives, which will explore how local economies around the country can improve health and reduce health inequalities through economic development interventions.
Havant Borough Council will work closely with a wide range of partner organisations to deliver the best possible outcomes for young people in Leigh Park. The scheme is part of the Havant Borough Council Regeneration Strategy (2018) and the first part of a bigger plan to regenerate Leigh Park. It will ensure that local young people can benefit from the many new jobs that will be created by Dunsbury Park and the new Havant thicket reservoir.
The project will help improve training and job opportunities for young people in Leigh Park, whilst supporting them to live healthy lifestyles.
We will bring together doctors, community groups, the council, schools, colleges and businesses in Leigh Park to work together to remove the barriers that make it difficult for young people to get good local jobs.
There will soon be 3000 new jobs at Havant Thicket Reservoir and Dunsbury Business Park. We want to make sure that those jobs go to local people, so we need to make sure that young people in Leigh Park have the right skills for these jobs.
The University of Portsmouth will also work alongside the council as it studies the links between economic prosperity and improved health.