What is Levelling Up?
Levelling Up in Essex means creating opportunities for everyone to enable them to succeed in life. Over the past two years we have introduced new projects aimed at supporting our residents and communities and making sure that:
- children at key stages of development receive the support they need to learn and succeed
- parents have access to free childcare to enable them to access work more easily
- businesses are able to best support their workforce
- community supermarkets are set up in the areas that will benefit the most
- we make it easier than ever before to be able to retrain and gain new skills
- young people who may not be in employment, education or training are offered targeted support
To learn more about the impact of Levelling Up, read our year two report.
Prioritisation
Six out of the ten neighbourhoods with the highest level of community need in the entire country are in Essex. Essex is also home to two of the top 10 most deprived places in England: Jaywick and Basildon. This is according to the Local Trust and the latest Index of Multiple Deprivation study. To achieve impact, Levelling Up needs to be focused on those places and groups of people (cohorts) that need it most. In Essex, we have taken a data driven approach to determining our key places and cohorts of focus.
Our priority places are:
- Tendring (Clacton, Jaywick and Harwich)
- Basildon housing estates
- Colchester housing estates (Greenstead)
- Harlow
- Areas of Rural Braintree
- Canvey Island
We also recognise that Maldon District is categorised as Level 1 in central government’s index of priority places, due to lack of transport infrastructure, and we continue to work with them in this space.
Our priority cohorts are:
- children and adults with SEND, learning disabilities, or mental health conditions (taking an all-age approach)
- children on free school meals
- low income working families
- young adults (16-25) who have not been in education, training or employment for around 6-12 months
138,090
The number of people we expect to be directly impacted by projects in the Levelling Up portfolio, over the life of those projects.
67,747
The number of people who have been directly impacted so far (by the end of November 2023).
Supporting Essex residents
We are investing £22 million of funding to support Levelling Up and alongside our partners are working to improve job opportunities, provide new skills training, invest in education, literacy, business and community support.
Working with businesses
We cannot achieve Levelling Up alone, which is why we are lucky to be working with so many amazing partners, including those in the private sector, who are helping us to bring free support and activities to Essex residents.
Your stories
From supporting mental wellbeing in schools to saving money on essentials, hear about how Levelling Up projects are impacting the lives of Essex residents.
Volunteering opportunities
In 2023, we launched our new Summer of Volunteering Campaign, inviting more Essex residents to get involved in helping out in their local community. It can be a fantastic way to learn new skills, meet new people and support those around you. Find out more about volunteering in Essex.