H - Women Employment Programme

Value

£160,000

Purpose

To refurbish the existing Eastwood Building on Marlborough Street Keighley and improve the provision of skills to women.  This includes empowering them to make informed choices for themselves and their families.

Objectives

• The building will house a social enterprise textile management project to enable KAWACC (Keighley Association for Women and Children's Centre) to establish a textile academy which will deliver bespoke skills training package for local Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women to improve pathways into skilled and better work.
• KAWACC will partner with local colleges, manufacturers, and suppliers to offer practical work experience and create employment opportunities for workless women, acting as a stepping-stone to employment.
• Keighley and wider Bradford has a well-established textiles industry. The proposed facility which is the focus of this project focuses on this critical aspect of need. The annex building will be used solely to create a space to support skills and entrepreneurships in the textile industry for BAME women. It will improve the labour market for this sector, creating a larger and more skilled pools to machinists and technicians who can supply local industry with job ready employees.
• It will offer workless BAME women the opportunity to become job ready. They will improve their English Language, functional and digital skills improving their employability in a wide range of sectors, as well as specifically gaining skills in the textile sector. By maximising their work experience and readiness, trainees will improve their confidence, access to work, social mobility, and quality of life.

Position up to April 2024

Planning approval granted. Architect design complete, estimates obtained and preferred contractor identified. Currently looking for additional funding as project costs higher than funding currently secured. Community Asset Transfer is in process, at stage 2.

Project sponsor

KAWAAC (Keighley Association for Women and Children's Centre).

Further information

For further information on this project contact Michelle.Rushworth@bradford.gov.uk.