Marine careers support for Cornwall’s youth
Young people in Cornwall UK will benefit from a new £1.2m EU scheme to raise awareness of marine careers and improve job prospects into the sector.
Cornwall Marine Network (CMN) has been awarded the substantial trans-national contract, which will design a common model between French and English partners to steer young people living in coastal regions towards future marine careers.
Called Channel Marine Academy, the project will be led by CMN and its objectives will be achieved through a range of schemes including building relationships between employers and schools, and mapping and developing vocational training frameworks.
The initiative builds on CMN’s track record of engaging with young people, including those who are disadvantaged or unemployed, and developing career pathways into the marine sector. Since 2008 it has created opportunities for more than 2,000 young people in Cornwall, whether providing career advice, funding vocational training at CMN member businesses, or establishing Apprenticeship programmes.
Lucy Harris, CMN’s strategic executive and manager of the Channel Marine Academy project said: “This latest project is a great opportunity to further build relationships between marine employers and schools, raise awareness about marine careers among young people living by the coast, and build on the range of industry related training.”
The Channel Marine Academy scheme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund’s Interreg IVa programme and will work in partnership with two other marine organisations along the English Channel regions, plus its French counterparts in Brittany.
CMN is a not-for-profit, member owned organisation which responds to the needs of the Cornish marine sector. In total it has so far drawn £8.5m into the industry in Cornwall through local, national and trans-national projects.
