Run by the University’s Innovation and Enterprise Service, the project is designed to deliver skills training, qualifications and support to local people looking to boost career aspirations.

Backed by £300,000 in funding from the European Social Fund (ESF) and Luton Borough Council, the training programme focuses on a mix of technical, business, creative, and managerial skills.

Courses and qualifications – up to a value of £2,500 – offered by the scheme, which is free of charge to anyone living in Luton or looking to work in the town, are particularly appropriate to ICT, engineering, airline and creative industries.

The project is due to complete this month, with more than 150 people having completed one of the courses on offer, and 70 achieving a qualification.

Eamonn Keenan, Head of CPD and Short Courses at the University of Bedfordshire, said:

“This has been a great opportunity to work with job seekers to deliver the skills local employers are seeking.

“It was a University-wide project and it was great to work with colleagues across all our faculties to ensure the programme was a success.”

Project Manager Claire Soares added:

“It has been great to be involved in a project that is supporting our own graduates and such a variety of people from the local area.

“We have encountered numerous employees of local SME businesses that have gone away from a course feeling really motivated and looking forward to implementing what they have learnt in their places of work.

“We have also been able to offer graduates the chance to add qualifications and skills to their existing degrees, as well as the opportunity to network with business people attending the courses.”