The Thames Estuary is set to benefit from Community Renewal Funding which has been awarded to projects based in Essex, Kent and London. In total, projects in and around the Thames Estuary – in authorities including Barking and Dagenham, Canterbury, Lewisham, Medway, Newham, Southend, Thanet and Thurrock – have been awarded £16.9m.
The Community Renewal Fund will help local areas prepare for the launch of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022. This additional £220 million funding will support people and communities most in need across the UK. The Community Renewal funding will pilot programmes and new approaches, and will invest in skills, community and place, local business, and supporting people into employment.
Successful bids in the Estuary include*:
- Green skills, green jobs (expanding employment support into green industries) in Barking and Dagenham (£797k)
- Employment and Support Hub – Canterbury and Thanet (£653k)
- Creative Futures – Lewisham (£533k)
- Medway Together (£604k)
- Unlocking Green Economy opportunities in the south of Newham (£520k)
- Thurrock Skills Recovery Programme (£101k)
- Southend Opportunities (£630k)
- Anchoring the Southend 2050 ambition (£431k)
Kate Willard OBE, Estuary Envoy commented: “As a Board we recognise the inequalities and imbalances in the Thames Estuary and welcome this funding that will help address them and will benefit people in the region.
This much-needed support will create training and job opportunities, attract talent and investment to the region, and support local growth in and around the Thames Estuary.
Ultimately, this is more than a shot-in-the-arm for our region – this support will help us reach our potential and play a major part in the national economy. We look forward to future announcements about the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022.”
Mapping deprivation across the Estuary region
In May this year, the Growth Board commissioned and released the Thames Estuary Levelling Up Data Atlas to inform and drive discussion around what ‘levelling up’ means in the Thames Estuary, and how to achieve it.
As well as identifying and understanding the breadth and scale of social inequalities in the Thames Estuary, the Data Atlas also provided local authorities with the information they need to lobby government as they make their cases for funding.
Deprivation in the Thames Estuary is as severe as anywhere within the UK and seven of the region’s twenty local authorities were identified by the government as top priorities for levelling up investment.
Levelling up the Thames Estuary
Thames Estuary local authorities were awarded almost £110 million, from first round of levelling up funding announced in the recent Autumn Spending Review. The Government’s £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund supports infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets.
The Thames Estuary Growth Board will continue to work closely with the Government and partners to ensure that the region receives the necessary funding to level up and benefits reach people and businesses across the Estuary.
Read more about how the Thames Estuary Growth Board is supporting levelling up here.
* This is a non-exhaustive list.
Find out about successful community renewal projects in Essex, London and Kent.
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