A partnership of 11 Cornish organisations has secured a Big Lottery Fund grant to help Cornwall’s most socially excluded communities return to employment, education and training.

The new programme, called ‘Positive People’ or ‘Poosedhogyon’ (Cornish for positive people), will aim to help more than 1,300 individuals who are out of work to build their skills, confidence and motivation. 

This will include people with substance misuse issues, disabilities, mental health issues, ex-offenders, homeless people and people over 50. Support for individuals will include basic literacy and numeracy skills, help to master digital technology and preparation for work.

The programme aims to benefit local communities by reducing poverty and anti-social behaviour. It also aims to contribute to the growth of the local economy with employers having access to a pool of people with the relevant skills to meet their needs.

Addaction and Pluss will begin to deliver the £5 million programme in early 2017 for the next three years. Addaction is a national behaviour change charity providing drug and alcohol recovery services across Cornwall.

The partners are Pluss, Addaction, Cornwall Neighbourhoods 4 Change, Cornwall Marine Network, CHAOS, Active Plus, Pentreath, Lizard Pathways, Pirate FM, Cornwall Voluntary Sector and Cornwall College. 

Positive People has been designed over the past six months by people including representatives from local communities and Cornwall Council.