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Lone parents making employment opportunites possible

22 November 2007

Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, today highlighted how European funding has helped the employability opportunities for local lone parents.

The Minister was speaking at the “Possibilities EQUAL Project” mainstreaming event.  This project which provided employability and life skills opportunities for lone parents was funded by the European Social Fund under the NI EQUAL Community Initiative Programme.  It was developed by a partnership of four organisations led by Gingerbread Northern Ireland.

The Minister paid tribute to the contribution made by the Project in piloting innovative ways of addressing the needs of lone parents who are experiencing disadvantage in the labour market.  He said: “The activities of the EQUAL programme underpin and complement the Department’s objective of developing and enhancing the employability skills of the people who access our services.  Furthermore EQUAL and Development Partnerships, such as Possibilities, provide a very valuable way of testing innovative approaches to addressing the issue of inequality and improving access to the labour market.”

The Minister emphasised that the Department continues to move provision forward for key economically inactive groups – those who are ill or disabled, lone parents, older workers and the homeless – who wish to enter or return to work as soon as possible.  He said: “The Department continues to test the development of more flexible and integrated frontline services focussing on identifying people’s specific needs more effectively.  We are conscious of the need for targeted initiatives to help and support the economically inactive and that this can be effectively delivered at community level.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:  

  1. The Possibilities Development Partnership is funded from Europe through the EQUAL Community Initiative Programme for Northern Ireland and is run by a consortium of organisations led by Gingerbread.
  2. In November 2004 Possibilities received funding of £562,105 for a pilot programme aimed at enhancing the employability of young homeless people.
  3. Media queries to the Department for Employment and Learning Press Office on 028 9025 7872.
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