Thousands to benefit from Mayor’s £11m Skills Bootcamps

Thousands of residents in the Liverpool City Region will be given the chance to retrain and upskill for the future after Mayor Steve Rotheram and the Combined Authority secured £11.2m to provide free Skills Bootcamps. 

The new investment will be used to train 2,500 people over the next year in areas such as construction, digital, engineering, manufacturing, HGV drivers, and rail.  

The funding is expected to take the total number of people completing a bootcamp to 6,500 by March 2025. 

Raising skill levels in key sectors – which also include creative and design, sales, marketing and procurement, and health and social care/life sciences – will enable eligible adults to move into more sustainable roles and provide city region residents with the skills that employers really need.  

Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram said:  

“Our area is home to one of the country’s fastest growing city region economies with world-leading industry clusters on our doorstep. I know from speaking to business owners that there is a huge demand for skilled, local people to join their workforce – and it is our role to help connect them to those opportunities. 

“Staff at the Combined Authority have a proven track record of delivering incredible results with the funding we secure. This additional investment will help thousands more local people to access high quality training and develop the skills they need to build a career for themselves. Equally, it means that we can train and retain the very best talent in our area and target the skills gaps that are preventing some of our industries from firing on all cylinders. 

“I want to place our residents in the best possible position to fulfil their potential – it’s proper levelling up in action.” 

Skills Bootcamps are free flexible courses lasting up to 16-weeks and primarily provide training at Level 3 standard or above – equivalent to A-levels.   

They support employers who wish to retrain existing staff in order to develop new business or upskill and expand roles. Skills Bootcamps also support individuals who are self-employed, and any employed or unemployed adult looking to gain new skills to enable them to progress. Everyone who completes the training will be offered an interview with a local employer or progress in their current workplace. 

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The Combined Authority successfully piloted Skills Bootcamps in 2020. By March this year more than 4,000 people – a combination of unemployed, self-employed, and employed people – will have completed one of the free courses – with half being trained in digital skills. 

A further 2,500 are expected to be completed by March 2025 taking the total to around 6,500. 

Councillor Marion Atkinson, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Portfolio Holder for Employment, Education and Skills and Leader of Sefton Council said: 

“It is a testament to our success in delivering previous rounds of skills bootcamps that we have been able to secure this additional funding that will enable thousands of people across our city region to increase their skills and improve their career opportunities.   

“It’s fantastic news that we are able to support these courses and a great opportunity for residents and employers across the Liverpool City Region to take advantage of the high-quality training available.” 

Details of courses available can be found at https://lcrbemore.co.uk/skillsbootcamps/