Council throws Oswestry Learndirect a lifeline
Tuesday 6th September 2011, 1:11PM BST.
An under-threat learning scheme that helps the unemployed get back into work has now been thrown a lifeline by Oswestry Town Council.
Learndirect, an online education centre, will close in the town at the end of the month if a major new funding package can not be found.
Last night Oswestry town councillors voted to ask the full council to make a special payment of up to £9,000 towards keeping the scheme open for the coming year.
The Government-funded course is run by Walford and North Shropshire College. But Government cutbacks have affected the Learndirect service, run by Ufi Ltd, which has said the Oswestry centre will close. It has said that learners can transfer to centres in Shrewsbury Telford or Newtown.
Hundreds of people have been helped by Learndirect in Oswestry and 40 are currently using the service to learn new skills.
At last night’s finance and general purposes meeting of Oswestry Town Council, Councillor Martin Bennett said that the college principal, Andrew Tyley, was working to try to put together a rescue package.
“About £59,000 is needed to run the service and I know that the local joint committees have been asked for £10,000,” he said.
“This is such an important service. It give people a lifeline to improve their skills to get into or back into employment. The town council has the money thanks to the remittance of audit fees and reimbursement of professional fees that we did not budget for.”
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