Fast Track Digital Workforce Fund helps Stockport Digital Academy tackle skills gap

Stockport Digital Academy is one of 14 projects in Greater Manchester and Lancashire that have been successful in applying for the Fast Track Digital Workforce Fund to address the North West’s digital skills gap.

The £3 million fund is a joint project between the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and the Lancashire Digital Skills Partnership (LDSP). The Fast Track Digital Workforce Fund is the first of its kind aimed at providing accessible routes into digital employment for disadvantaged and underrepresented groups, including BAME communities, women and ex-forces personnel.

The 14 projects selected will support a further 600 residents of the North West into digital employment, following six programmes in round one of funding that worked with over 200 Greater Manchester residents.

The Stockport Digital Academy is one of the schemes to received funding, and is a 12-week training programme managed by Stockport Council, MadLab and Stockport College to support college leavers and care leavers in particular to gain skills to apply for junior software development and other similar roles.

Other successful projects include a number of short training programmes and ‘bootcamps’ in technical IT skills, software development and digital marketing.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said: 

In the current climate this fund is more important than ever, this pandemic has highlighted the real importance of digital skills and technology and digital will be a vital element in how we ‘build back better’.

“In Greater Manchester our ambition is to be recognised as a world-leading digital city region. This fund helps bridge the digital skills gaps across our city-region and build a diverse talent pool in Greater Manchester, to ensure local businesses have access to the highly skilled workers they need.

“We have been overwhelmed with the fantastic applications received, which are testament to the range of organisations who are actively working to diversify talent and offer opportunities to underrepresented groups in the sector, ensuring digital skills are never a barrier to social mobility.”