‘Cornwall Counts’, a project to work with communities to encourage more residents to take up free courses from the Government-backed Multiply programme, has received money from the Shared Prosperity Fund to recruit and train 75 Multiply Champions.
The Multiply initiative gives residents access to free flexible courses to improve their numeracy skills that can be used in the workplace or to secure better paid jobs, courses for parents or carers wanting to get better at maths so they can help their children, as well as courses to help people manage their money.
Delivered by Seetec Pluss, £506,082 from the Shared Prosperity Fund will be used to recruit and train community based Multiply Champions to reach out to, encourage and reassure residents who may feel anxious about taking up a place on a Multiply numeracy course. They will promote access to the Multiply numeracy programme, as they work with each of the education providers to develop links between schools, colleges and employers and act as the ‘front door’ to the programme for learners across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.
Launched earlier this year, Mutiply is open to anyone aged 19 or over that doesn’t have a GCSE grade C/4 or higher in maths. Courses are being delivered by four providers across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly: Cornwall College Group, Cornwall Adult Education Service, Council of the Isles of Scilly, and Truro and Penwith College.
“The type of courses Multiply offers couldn’t be further away from the classroom maths that some people will remember from their school days”
says Martyn Blight, Operations Manager at Seetec Pluss.
“It’s much more practical and can help people with things like doing homework with their children, cooking, measuring up for DIY or even help with household budgeting. Basically, it’s learning numbers that are useful for everyday life. It’s fantastic seeing how much more confident people feel afterwards and the results can be quite life changing. Sometimes people even move into work or gain promotion as a result”.
Henry Rosewall, one of the new Multiply Champions, works as a senior producer for local community company and Multiply partner, CHAOS.
“Our Multiply volunteers will be people who are already known and trusted within their local community”, says Henry. “It could be anyone - a volunteer from a local foodbank or someone who works in a library or cafe, through to hairdressers or even people who are retired that want to give something back. The important thing is our Champions are approachable, can chat through how it works with no judgement and will set people on the right path”.
The funding for the project has been received from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, allocated from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Good Growth Fund.
Councillor Barbara Ellenbroek, Cornwall Council portfolio holder for children and families with responsibility for learning and skills said,
“Skills are at the heart of our Good Growth programme. We’re using the Shared Prosperity Fund to provide new training opportunities so that residents can gain new qualifications, progress to better paid jobs and start new careers. Employers will also benefit from this initiative as the local workforce gain new skills including through vocational options and apprenticeships.”
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has been allocated a total of £132m of Shared Prosperity Fund for local investment providing opportunities for communities and businesses and giving residents access to new jobs and training.
To find out more about Multiply, watch Seetec’s Multiply broadcast on Facebook.
