Telford and Wrekin

This work is a collaboration between Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales and local organisations, groups and people within the community of Telford and Wrekin. At the Foundation, we want to help create sustainable change within communities, and for this work to ultimately be completely locally owned. Throughout this page, the use of ‘we’ refers to the partnership working between the Foundation and the local community in developing this work so far.  

How we got here

The Foundation facilitated events for local people and organisations in Telford and Wrekin to come together to discuss what change people wanted to see in the area and develop a shared vision and goals. This has led to the development of an alliance, with representatives across multiple sectors who are committed to working together to make changes to systems and services that will benefit the local community. The alliance has decided to focus on building aspiration across all age groups by ensuring that children have the best possible opportunities throughout their education and that adults can access fair and suitable employment.

In some areas of Telford, children are not being given the support they need to achieve their potential. School attainment levels are lower than the UK average, which can make it more challenging for young people to enter higher education or employment. In addition, growing numbers of people in the borough are not in any form of employment, education or training. A lack of support and opportunities in the local area has meant that people have not been able to achieve their aspirations. Addressing this has become a key priority for the local authority, as well as local charities and organisations.

The alliance recognises that to make real change in the borough we have to take a collective cross-sector approach to change. We need to work together, and alongside people who have faced barriers to achieving their aspirations, to understand what change is needed, and be prepared to design, test and evaluate new approaches together.

The vision

We want to remove barriers and create opportunities within education and employment so that people of all ages can reach their full potential. We are committed to working with local people to make sustainable changes to systems and services so that people can access the support and opportunities they need to thrive.

We also want to unlock the potential of the local voluntary sector, because we know that small and local charities have a deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of the people they support and can play a key role in helping communities thrive. We are working with the Telford and Wrekin Chief Officers' Group (COG) - a community network with a vision to establish a coordinated, collaborative, and accountable network of VCSE organisations committed to mutual support and shared success - and other community stakeholders to strengthen the local voluntary and community sector infrastructure.

Who is involved

The Unlocking Potential in Telford and Wrekin steering group is made up of representatives from the public, community and private sectors and is responsible for overseeing the values of the work, learning from the work and identifying the resources needed to deliver the vision. Meanwhile, the delivery of the work is being explored, designed and planned by a series of focused groups.

Education focused group
This group is seeking to understand, influence and action change within local education provision. A range of people and organisations are involved including local education providers, wider public sector organisations, parents and carers, young people, and community organisations and local groups.

Access to employment focused group
This group is seeking to understand and action change for job seekers, including people who are facing more complex challenges in accessing employment.
This group is made up of:
• Community organisations including the CVS, Energise, Shropshire Youth Support Trust and Allsports
• Private organisations and business networks/partnerships including Shropshire Partners in Care and Telford Business Board
• Community representation including job seekers, and community and faith groups
• Public sector organisations including the DWP, Telford and Wrekin Council and Telford College

Employer focused group
This is a large group of local employers who are committed to understanding and addressing the barriers people face when wanting to access good and fair employment in Telford and Wrekin.
This group is made up of:
• Community sector organisations including Partners in Care, CVS and Severn Hospice
• Public sector organisations including the Shropshire Fire Service, MOD and NHS
• Private organisations and businesses including Avara Foods, Shropshire Business Chamber and Serco

Progress so far

• Running a series of Re-imagining Recruitment events in the borough; bringing employers, service organisations, and job seekers together to discover how to help people gain good and fair employment.
• Regular meetings with committed Telford based employers to firm up objectives from an employer perspective in creating good and fair employment for all.
• Exploring and trialing opportunities to strengthen the community, including facilitating workshops to strengthen resilience and strategic planning workshops for COG (a community network with a vision to establish a coordinated, collaborative, and accountable network of VCSE organisations committed to mutual support and shared success).
• Developing a community engagement tool to hear about local people’s education and employment experiences.
• Progressing discussions on education within the borough, beginning with understanding who is currently working to deliver change and the key challenges within the borough's education provision and strategy.
• Launching a fully funded Organisational Resilience programme for Telford and Wrekin community organisations.
• Trialing a Community Response Forum to support or signpost small organisations to start or develop, including advice on how to access funding.
• Funding of resources to assist COG/VCSE to make informed decisions around the best way to strengthen the sector in the long term.

You can also view our timeline of our work, which shows the events we have facilitated and milestones reached so far.

Get involved

Join one of our working groups

If you’d like to find out more about who is involved, our progress, or join any of our local groups, please email us at telford@lbfewcommunities.org.uk.

Join our Telford and Wrekin Community Space
We have an online shared space for anyone interested in collaborating or being part of the local conversation about building aspiration and unlocking potential in Telford and Wrekin.

Watch video updates
Watch Youtube recordings providing updates on our work and local radio podcasts we have featured on.

Sign up to our monthly newsletter
Email us at telford@lbfewcommunities.org.uk to be added to the mailing list for our Unlocking Potential monthly email newsletter.