Ł1.1m for skills and outreach programme to inspire children and young people into high tech careers in health and life sciences

A groundbreaking programme to prepare children and young people for the high tech jobs of the future is set for a major expansion after securing investment through the Liverpool City Region Innovation Zone.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has awarded Knowledge Quarter Liverpool Ł1.13m to widen the KQ Futures Programme over the next 5 years.

The LCR Innovation Zone Programme is expected to create 8,000 new jobs and attract up to Ł800m investment to the Liverpool City Region over the next 10 years.

KQ Futures aims to inspire students from Primary School up to 18 years old and help them to benefit from the high-paid jobs the Innovation Zone will bring.

It will raise aspirations and help tackle a skills shortage in the life sciences sector, removing barriers to future roles in innovative industries and creating new paid internships and workplace experiences in science and technology.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said:- "Our economy is being revolutionised by innovation; particularly in sectors like health and life sciences, which is why it's an incredibly exciting time to be in the Liverpool City Region. We're standing at the forefront of a transformative period where innovation and sustainability converge, and we want to inspire the next generation of innovators and leaders to be part of that challenge. By expanding this programme, we're not only tackling skills shortages, but ensuring that every young person; regardless of background; can access these high-skilled, high-paid roles."

KQ Futures Programme is 1 of 20 projects being developed in the 1st phase of the City Region's 10-year, Ł160m Life Sciences Innovation Zone.

The new investment will scale up Knowledge Quarter Liverpool's existing skills and outreach activity to reach students across the City Region.

Students will learn about the types of innovation happening in the Region and the potential career pathways into sectors such as health and life sciences, advanced manufacturing and digital and creative.

Previous outreach work includes:- a Careers Insight Week, which welcomed more than 250 students from Year 7 to Sixth Form, in collaboration with LCR Careers Hub.

As part of the expansion, an animated children's book, The Animates: Learning in Liverpool, will be rolled out across all City Region Primary Schools, accompanied by lessons to introduce the concept of innovation.

Andrew Lewis, chair of KQ Liverpool, said:- "Enhancing skills will be fundamental to the Liverpool City Region's long term success, and we want to ensure access to innovation opportunities is as inclusive as possible. By connecting local students to the innovations taking place in KQ Liverpool and across the City Region, we can equip them to secure a wide range of well-paid local jobs. We have already welcomed hundreds of local young people to KQ Liverpool and we are delighted to now have the opportunity to scale up those efforts and deliver a series of new activities which inspire a new generation."

The Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (“KQ Liverpool") Innovation District is a partnership bringing together the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool City Council, the Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Bruntwood SciTech.

The Liverpool City Region Life Sciences Innovation Zone Programme (LCR Innovation Zone Programme) is part of the Government's national Investment Zone Programme.

Passengers in the North West told to:- 'Check Before You Travel' on Sundays AND over the Christmas period

NORTHERN, the 2nd biggest train operator in the UK, has advised its customers in the North West to:- 'Check Before You Travel' on Sundays, throughout the rest of December 2024, due to planned engineering works and the potential for short notice cancellations.

The train operator says it is to provide passengers with more certainty about those services it will be able to run and to reduce the number of short-notice cancellations.

The amended timetable, which Northern hopes to introduce from:- Sunday, 22 December, will have fewer services on Sundays in the North West.

The proposed changes to the Sunday timetable comes after RMT members rejected Northern's enhanced 4 month pay offer for conductors to work on Sundays during a recent referendum vote; an offer that would have seen them double the money they get for working on Sundays.

The situation with conductor availability is expected to worsen over the Christmas period, with fewer conductors volunteering to work extra shifts or overtime.

Network Rail has also announced engineering projects will affect services on various routes across the Northern network.

If Northern is forced to cancel services, it will look to provide rail replacement services for customers where possible.

For all the latest information on routes affected by engineering works, ticket acceptance and refunds, customers are asked to visit:- NorthernRailway.Co.UK.

Matt Rice, Chief Operating Officer at Northern, said:- "We are disappointed that our offer for conductors to work on Sundays was rejected and we would like to say sorry to everyone in the North West who will be affected by this disruption in the run up to Christmas. We believe the deal that was put to RMT members was fair and reasonable and, if it had been accepted, would have improved reliability in the short-term while we worked with the RMT to secure a longer-term agreement. Despite this setback, we will continue to work with colleagues and the RMT union to find a new way forward. Our performance in the North West has not been good enough for some time and we understand the impact it has on our customers. Across the rail network, Christmas period is an opportunity for Network Rail to carry out engineering. For those wanting to travel over this time, we are asking them to check their journey as close to the day or travel as possible to see if these works will affect their journey."

Northern currently employs more than:- 2,000 drivers and 1,400 conductors; more than ever before; and enough to run its timetable. Like most train operators, Northern relies on some rest-day working and overtime to cover training, sickness, and other unavailability.

Sundays are currently outside the working week for most conductors with a notice period not to work Sundays allowed in the North West due to an agreement which was inherited by Northern Trains Limited when it was set up to run services in 2020.

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Ł1.1m for skills and outreach programme to inspire children and young people into high tech careers in health and life sciences

Passengers in the North West told to:- 'Check Before You Travel' on Sundays AND over the Christmas period