LATEST NEWS
 National recognition for drugs team in the north of Kent
Police in the north of Kent have won a national award for their work around drugs and recently collected their award in Leeds.
The drugs intervention team won a national award for their work to reduce and almost wipe out the drugs market in the area, alongside knocking down the associated acquisitive crime that usually goes hand in hand with it.
The Urban Programme contributed £185k towards the project known as "Operation Iceburg".
Read more...
The Urban Thames Gateway Kent Programme has now closed and is currently in the process of finalising closure reports and accounts. Since the start of the Programme in 2001, we have allocated £ 8.3M of European Funding to a variety of projects across the following Urban Wards:
| Stone |
Castle |
Greenhithe |
Swanscombe |
Northfleet North |
| Northfleet South |
Pelham |
Central |
Riverside |
Westcourt |
which added to the public and private match funding attracted gives an overall investment of £21.6M.
Please see Projects for a comprehensive list of all projects funded.
EVALUATION
We are pleased to announce that ERS Research & Consultancy have completed their evaluation of the Urban Programme.
The aim of the evaluation is to assess the overall impact of the programme, particularly with regards to cost effectiveness. Although there is no successor programme for URBAN, the evaluation will act as a guide for partner organisations in future project/programme delivery, providing detail on what works and what does not, lessons that have been learnt and highlighting examples of best practice.
The study includes an analysis of programme performance in terms of output and expenditure figures, stakeholder interviews, project case studies and a beneficiary survey. As well as providing an overall review of the programme, the evaluation will also assess performance across the three priority areas - Social Inclusion, Assess to Learning, and Business Infrastructure & Regeneration
A full report can be found here 'Evaluation of the Urban II Thames Gateway Kent Programme'. For more information on ERS click on the following link http://www.ers.org.uk/
ALL CHANGE
The Urban team also announces that Programme Manager, John Pexton left us in March 2009 to take up a position with Gravesham Borough Council.
John continues to support projects associated with Urban and is a Board Member for the Riverside Centre and Dartford Citizens Advice Bureau. We wish John all the very best for the future.
 URBAN NEWSLETTER
For further links which feature news on Urban Projects and the wider Thames Gateway visit
Programme Monitoring Committee (PMC)
The Urban Programme Team welcomed Maria Munoz, Communities and Local Government (CLG) and John Pinnell, Government Office of the South East (GOSE) on 24th April 2008 and took them on a tour of the Urban wards, taking in visits to a variety of capital projects, and providing an opportunity to revisit some of the projects which were under development during the April 2007 Tour. A selection of photographs are shown from last year's visit and further information on all of our projects can be found by clicking on the Projects button.
PROJECTS VISITED
Employ Kent Thameside - Grant Awarded £254,250
Employ Kent Thameside is a partnership between the public sector and private organisations to encourage the use of the local workforce where possible, as well as to provide training requirements to improve local skills. The project is managed by Sally Clarke, previosuly with the Urban Programme Management Team, on behalf of the Kent Thameside Delivery Board.
Sally is as busy as ever as she brokers employment for the long-term unemployed and other job-seekers in the community with a number of private developers at work on sites such as Ebbsfleet, Ingress Abbey and Waterstone Park. To date the project has successfully found employment for 50 residents who live in the Urban wards, as well as an additional 68 who reside outside of the Urban Area.
The first Job Shop at The Bridge, Dartford which opened in October 2006 has been facilitated by Pro Logis with temporary accommodation provided free of charge by McAlpine. The Job Shop is staffed by Job Centre Plus staff under a partnership arrangement. This Job Shop will soon move into permanent accommodation to service the projected 7,500 jobs that will be created as a result of regenerating this old hospital site. Employ Kent Thameside will also be linking with a new construction skills workshop being built this year on this site, to ensure those looking for work and those in work are upskilled and able to take up the construction jobs in the area.
The Job Shop at The Bridge is working with all 31 contractors on this site during the construction phase and will work with the tenants and leaseholders of the new office, distribution and light industrial units who have been tied to a Workforce Agreement by the main developer Pro Logis. The new permanent Job Shop will be known as The Learning Shop at The Bridge and will link directly with The Learning Shop at Bluewater.
The website for the project www.employnorthkent.com is linked to Medway and Swale to ensure that the project does not work in isolation and ensures a cross fertilisation of skills across the area.
The Powerhouse (Community Learning at St. Aidan's) - Grant Awarded £106,464
Major redevelopment work part funded by Urban was undertaken at the Church during 2006. The rear of the building was altered to provide a large room on an upper level for use as a computer suite, and two further rooms on the ground floor for use by church and community groups. A lift and the toilet facilities were improved to provide disabled access and a well-equipped kitchen was also installed. The electricity supply was brought up to standard and a security system has been installed.
The project opened for business on Monday 4th September 2006 following an open weekend and since then the project has been building a team of volunteers. One of these volunteers acts as the Centre Administrator. The computer suite on the upper floor is run by First Byte and hosts a number of training sessions, some leading to accredited qualifications. The facilities also provide literacy classes and other drop in activities bringing an opportunity for greater social interaction to the area.
Prior to the project the building was kept locked for most of the week. Now it is in use every day.
The first accredited IT qualifications arising from the project are expected in the second quarter of 2007.
for course information click here (pdf).
Spark IT (Swanscombe ICT Project) - Grant Awarded £144,450
New Entrance
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Inside the cafe area
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PMC hear about ideas for the cafe area
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Workstation
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PMC hear about courses available
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'Can we fix it - After this course we can!'
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Spark IT is a purpose built facility for the teaching of advanced ICT. Anticipating growth in the ICT sector due to the development of Kent Thameside, the centre offers local residents the opportunity to gain industry standard qualifications. The purpose is to help enable people to get into work, or to improve the prospects and retention of those that are already employed in the sector.
The centre teaches courses on software and hardware, the internet and networking. Examples of courses offered free to the community are:
- Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC³)
- Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
- IT Essentials
Spark IT teaches ICT in a non traditional classroom environment, and focuses on supporting learners into work as well as delivering the ICT courses. This is done through the teaching of the skills needed to gain employment such as effective job search, applying for work, interview skills and presentation skills.
Spark IT is a partnership between Dartford Borough Council and the Leigh City Academy. It is funded by Urban and Dartford Borough Council.
www.dartford.gov.uk/sparkit
Images of the Urban Open Day 2005 can be seen here.
© 2003 - Urban Thames Gateway Kent
 Urban Thames Gateway Kent
receives funding from the
European Union
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