Section A: General Details

1. YES Regional Hub applied for	The South West Wales Regional Hub will cover the geographical regions of Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Neath and Port Talbot and Swansea.
2. Rationale for the regional choice	Over the past 5 years the Higher and Further Education Institutions within the South West Wales region have worked together to successfully deliver the strategic outcomes of the Welsh Government with regards to enterprise and entrepreneurship. The establishment of the South West Wales Regional Hub (SWWRH) will build upon the knowledge and expertise that already exists within collaborative partnerships such as the Dragon Innovation Partnership and the Swansea Bay Consortia. The SWWRH will continue this work creating a robust and sustainable infrastructure that provides effective delivery of enterprise training and support for young people across the South West Wales region whilst allowing the maximum reach and geographical coverage to be obtained . The regional hub will also benefit from working with existing strategic partnerships within the region including the Regional Learning Partnership, BEES Group, Local Regeneration groups and Learning Networks, using the support of its members to ensure the Welsh Government agenda of enterprise and entrepreneurship is embedded across an all age strategy for the region.
3. Lead institution name	Gower College Swansea
4. Lead contact name	Sue Poole - Enterprise Education Manager Simon Jenkins - External Funding Manager
5. Phone numbers	01792 284164 – S Poole 07917 420085 – S Poole 01792 284121 – S Jenkins
6. Email	Sue.poole@gowercollegeswansea.ac.uk Simon.jenkins@gowercollegeswansea.ac.uk
7. Rationale for leading the hub	Strategic Context Following discussions with partners in the South West region, Gower College Swansea has become the prime candidate to lead on the regional hub Over the past 3 years Gower College has been successful in leading the Swansea Bay Consortia for Enterprise and has developed robust structures and reporting mechanisms to ensure the effective monitoring of delivery of both the required targets and expenditure profiles for the consortia in meeting the Welsh Governments agenda on enterprise and entrepreneurship. Prior to 2010 members of the consortia included Swansea Metropolitan University, Gorseinon College and Neath Port Talbot but due to various changes including a college merger the new partners were Gower College Swansea leading the consortia with Neath/Port Talbot College as a partner. Through its association and development of the consortia, Gower College Swansea has become instrumental in shaping the delivery of enterprise activity with the local area, actively leading on a number of enterprise strategies including the expansion of enterprise into primary and secondary schools within the region, a strategy which the Welsh Government is now looking to expand during 2010 – 2015. The College has also been at the forefront of discussions in the development of an all-age strategy for enterprise and entrepreneurship across the region, through the College’s involvement on the Regional Learning Partnership and Regeneration groups. Demonstrating a valuable commitment to working with colleagues outside the College an area which has become a key driver and a fundamental part of the YES strategy. Further evidence of collaboration is the College’s working with partners such as the local authority and 14-19 network to deliver on a number of projects delivering enterprise activities using staff and students from the College to support three local feeder secondary schools to develop their young people’s enterprise skills. (This includes an 8 week after school enterprise club, a half term enterprise boot camp and a weeklong intense course).. Gower College Swansea is also the leading FE colleges in Wales in the completion of the Enterprise Catalyst and has been granted a Young Enterprise Centre of Excellence for its work in developing small companies within the College. The College has forged close working relationships with local businesses such as HSBC and Admiral Insurance, acting as mentors for the Enterprise students to support and motivate the student companies. Gower College Swansea has also been the driving force in the establishment of a Young Chamber of Commerce. Finally Gower College has facilitated and supported a number of projects in conjunction with the two local Universities which has included three international conferences (ELVIS) and a number of other local projects, such as Shut up and Start up and Enterprise Boot Camps. Staff Expertise Gower College Swansea also possess the staff that have the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise to lead the Regional Hub for South West Wales. The College Enterprise Manager has recently won an award as the UK Enterprise Educator of the Year for her work within the region in primary schools and within the local community to develop enterprise at all education levels. The Enterprise Manager at Gower College has also been asked by Mentre a Busnes (a Welsh Government deliverer) to plan and deliver staff training sessions to FE colleges across South and North Wales to support staff development in the expansion of enterprise within the curriculum. The Enterprise Manager has met with the Local Editor of a Swansea Bay Magazine “Swansea Business Life” and negotiated a free 2 page regular slot for showcasing the work undertaken by colleagues in all institutions in the region which highlights the work being undertaken in FE and HE within the area to develop enterprise skills Sharing Best Practice Gower College Swansea works closely with Business Support Networks, Chamber of Commerce and both Local and International Businesses to provide opportunities for our students to engage with employers and gain a better understanding of the needs of employers in relation to future employees and the skills gap. Gower College Swansea has hosted a number of international visitors show casing the work that has been developed in Swansea Bay; in 2010 we hosted visitors from 6 EU countries to demonstrate the collaboration with schools, FE partners and our links to Higher Education. As recently as March the College hosted 10 Spanish delegates to showcase the work undertaken in the local primary schools, also in attendance were secondary school partners who the College has been working with under the collaboration projects within the 14-19 network. The College is also endeavoring to create the Welsh Enterprise Academy with partners from The University of Wales, accepting their offer of premises within the new Innovation Foundry in SA1 an exciting opportunity for the regional hub to take advantage of with facilities for conferences, workshops, meetings and regional activities. The centre also offers us the benefit of working with the businesses located within the Innovation Quarter for support with role models and mentors for our students, this Academy who will support the delivery of a number of outcomes as part of the YES strategy. Gower College is the prime candidate to lead the SWW Regional Enterprise Hub, acting as a Regional Centre of Excellence for Enterprise where partners within the region such as schools, FE and HE partners can be supported, increasing the levels of enterprise awareness, and developing student entrepreneurial aspirations. Employer Engagement and Regional Involvement Gower College Swansea has become respected as one of the area’s primary employer focused training providers. It recognises the importance of engaging with employers to tackle the skills agenda and build on WAG STWFW priorities. In its pursuit of developing the regions prosperity and actively influencing the culture of learning the College has worked with over 500 companies within the region. The College has a proven track record of leading the development of sector based solutions in delivering the “Skills that work for Wales” based upon a sound understanding of the skills infrastructure in Wales. It has recently been working with every Sector Skills Council to evaluate the curriculum to ensure that training provision is aligned to sector skills requirements and to meet the skills gaps. Entrepreneurship is a common thread through the resulting identified skills gaps in every sector. Monitoring As a public sector organisation the College maintains complete accurate and detailed records that withstand rigorous audit and quality inspection both internally and externally and as the lead for the South West Wales Regional Hub this thorough record keeping will be taken on board by all partners involved in the Hub. In taking the Regional Hub forward the College have the experience of large projects and have partnerships in place with FE and HE partners, and staff in place who have the experience and capability to deliver and monitor the project to an exceptionally high standard to ensure that all partners have rigid processes in place to ensure successful completion of the 3 year project. Conclusion *Vast experience in running collaborative Enterprise projects* *Vast experience in running/managing large partnership projects* *Vast experience of collating information and robust audit trails for partnership projects* *Active member of the RLP (steering and strategy group)* *Staff who will manage and lead the Regional Hub have experience in the design, delivery and monitoring of enterprise projects* *A high profile within the Enterprise community both Nationally and Internationally of providing high quality enterprise delivery*
8. Please confirm and describe the formal hub agreements	Appropriate governance arrangements (in the form of service level agreements) between Gower College Swansea and the members of the South West Regional Hub will be signed and implemented by each partner organisation. Appendix D provides details of the SLA
9. Other institutions who will receive grant funding from this application: Names, addresses and contact numbers	The SWW Regional Hub will cover the convergence area of South West Wales Neath Port Talbot College Mirander Thomas (Signed by Nicola Thornton Scott Director of Skills) Dwr-y-Felin Road, Neath, SA10 7RF Contact Number - 01639 648000 Coleg Sir Gar Kerry Matthews (Signed by Dr Andrew Cornish Director of Quality, Curriculum Development, Teaching and Learning.) Sandy Rd, Sandy Road, Dyfed SA15 4DN Contact Number - 01554 748000 Pembrokeshire College Aled Nicholas External Funding Manager (Signed by S Lusher Principal) Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA61 1SZ Contact Number - 01437753414 Swansea University Judith James Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP Contact Number - 01792 205 678 University of Wales: Trinity Saint David Sally Hewes ( signed by Gwyndeg Tobias Pro Vice Chancellor) Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, SA31 3EP Contact Number – 01267 676767 Swansea Metropolitan University Kathryn David (Signed by David Warner Principal) Mount Pleasant, Swansea, W Glam SA1 6ED Contact Number - 01792 481000
10. Rationale for hub membership	As previously mentioned the South West Wales Regional Hub will include members from both HEI’s and FEI’s and will build upon the successful work that has been carried out with the region over the recent years including the Dragon innovation Partnership, and the Swansea Bay Consortia for Enterprise, establishing 14 centres of delivery, covering 4 local authority areas, delivering to over 75,000 young people in the region Enterprise and entrepreneurship has become a significant area for development across the region and a vital component of all local Learning Networks and Regeneration Board strategies. Members of the Hub also attend and participate in various strategic groups across the locality including the Regional Learning Partnership, Neath Learning Network, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire Regeneration Partnerships and the Swansea Skills Group and will play a critical role in embedding enterprise training and support in mainstream provision In addition all partners will have close links with local industry and are well placed to bridge the gap between business and academia, possessing the infrastructure that will allow enterprise education to flourish within their institutions as well as the local communities in which they serve, ensuring the Hub achieves the desired impact it requires.

Section B: Hub Proposal

11. Hub Strategic Plan

11.1 Overview and vision:

Research undertaken from the Welsh Government has shown that the economic downturn has hit young people hard and in some areas of Wales, nearly half the unemployed are under 25 years old. Over a five year period the rate of youth unemployment has increased by almost 50%. Youth unemployment in Wales is higher than the UK average (19.1% vs. 18.4%). The Labour Force Survey estimated that for the three months to April 2010, the rate of economic inactivity amongst people of working age in Wales stood at 23.9%. Although this is down from 24.2% in the same period a year earlier, it is significantly higher than the UK average of 21.5%

Competition for employment has never been higher. It is therefore vital that young people become entrepreneurially aware and active so they can adapt to new challenges and be motivated to succeed.

One in seven of the Welsh workforce is self employed and this number is increasing. However, there are still relatively high numbers of businesses in low value-added sectors and worryingly low numbers in the knowledge economy, where potential for growth is greater.

In order to combat some of these barriers and support the growth indigenous employment in the area the South West Wales Regional Hub in developing its strategic plan has taken on board the findings from the Welsh Government report and has as its underlying theme the YES strategy: An Action Plan for Wales 2010 – 2015.

The SWWRH will endeavour to support the Welsh Government’s agenda in increasing the level of young people who are made aware of self employment as a career option by 5%, and increase the levels of young people considering being their own boss from 50% to 55% by providing a number of focussed activities to achieve these target increases (see delivery plans)

The Strategic plan outlines a structured journey for enterprise and entrepreneurship delivery across the region and a way forward for Wales in driving the economy and creating quality jobs and sustainable prosperity for all.

The Strategic plan for the South West Wales Regional Hub will possess a vision for the next three years that will

VISION

“Create opportunities, raise aspirations and develop skills and attitudes through practical experiences, and to nurture self-sufficient entrepreneurial young people across the South West Wales Region to create and grow businesses to positively contribute to economic and social success”

Each partner institution within the Hub will play a part in delivering the vision for South West Wales. Building on success to date the hub will provide a strategic and coherent approach to delivery to provide opportunities for young people to develop their entrepreneurial skills; the regional hub will also take into consideration the ever changing environment and will work with partners such as the Regional Learning Partnership and Private, Public and Third Sector Stakeholders. The South West Wales Regional Hub will also work in partnership with the CPD National Hub in relation to developing an entrepreneurial culture at each institution in the region.

Delivering the Vision.

In delivering the vision the Regional Hub will focus their activities on three main themes:

Engaging: Promoting the value of entrepreneurship to create opportunities and develop young people. Raising awareness and aspiration.
Empowering: Providing young people with entrepreneurial learning opportunities. Developing skills and attitudes through practical experiences.
Equipping: Supporting young people to create and grow businesses. Supporting the journey to start up for those who wish to do so.

It is anticipated that the activities delivered within each institution and across the region will:

Increase awareness and aspirations for entrepreneurship among young people;
Deliver practical experiences to develop confident entrepreneurial young people and instill entrepreneurial skills and attitudes to help young people realise their ambitions;
Prepare young people for business start up, providing appropriate information and signpost to the relevant start up support services;

Delivery of the strategy – Objectives

In order to achieve the vision the Regional Hub has established a set of objectives that will support and direct the activities being delivered as part of the strategy. This objectives include:

1. Raising Awareness of enterprise by developing an entrepreneurial culture in each institution and across the South West Wales region

2. Working in partnership with the National CPD Hub with a view to developing and supporting staff in embedding Enterprise within the curriculum.

3. Supporting staff to embed enterprise education to ensure sustainability for the future embedding of enterprise within the curriculum within each institution

4. Providing a structured journey of entrepreneurship through staged progression ensuing all young people have an entitlement to enterprise education

5. Inspiring young people to think differently about their future and give them confidence to consider entrepreneurial opportunities

6. Equipping young people with the relevant skills, knowledge and experiences to build their understanding of business and the world of work.

7. Giving young people the opportunity to put their learning into practice through enterprise experiences

8. Providing practical support with mentoring, workshops and other opportunities for young people and where possible signpost young people to the relevant financial support to help them embark on a business venture

9. Continuing our collaboration with partners and stakeholders and utilising their expertise to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in our young people

To underpin with the Governments YES strategy the SWWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving their targets and Milestones in Year 1

Key Milestones – Year 1 Date

Agree membership and set up a steering group September 2012

Complete 1^st year operational plan September 2012

Undertake training for partners on administration September 2012

Discuss and agree future meeting dates and reporting channels September 2012

Launch Entrepreneurship Academy Wales October 2012

Plan a number of joint collaborative events September 2012

Undertake the collaborative events All year 2012

Meet each month to evaluate projects Monthly

Quarterly review meetings with steering group Nov, Feb, May, Aug 2012

The SWWRH will also achieve the following targets within their first year’s Milestones

ENGAGE

1.Sessions on www.BigIdeasWales.com THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving the 50,000 target across Wales over 5 years by ensuring that the Big Ideas Wales web site is promoted across all the institutions at all internal and external events and activities and will be included on all enterprise marketing materials and promotional information. SWWRH estimates to target 15,020 young people during the first year of the project
2.Uses of online tools to test entrepreneurial skills The SWWRH will help Welsh Government achieve the 12500 target for the use of online tools by encouraging young people within and outside their institutions to complete the Enterprise Catalyst. This will be offered to all students at each institution and included within the enrolment itinerary. SWWRH estimates 4450 young people will complete the on line tool during the first year of the project
3.Partner organisations registered on www.BigIdeasWales.com The SWWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving 150 partner organisations registered on the above web site by registering themselves as partner organisations and encourage other stakeholder and business partners to also register on the web site. SWWRH estimates to register 20 companies during the first year of the project
4.Participants outside education involved in awareness raising activities The SWWRH will support Welsh Government to achieve the target of 300 of those outside education to get involved in awareness raising activities through the various community programmes and partnership working across the region. SWWRH estimates to hit 30 young people during the first year are which will be community projects funded via other income streams.

5. Participants in Schools, Further and Higher Education involved in awareness raising activities The SWWRH will continue to support FE, HE and schools with guidance, training and best practice workshops to ensure that staff are confident in enterprise delivery, to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activities and help Welsh Government to achieve their 235,000 target. SWWRH estimates during the first year 20,435 young people across the region will take part in all the various activities undertaken during the year.
6. Entrepreneurs supported to engage with young people The SWWRH will continue to use the Dynamo network and local business across the region to support the achievement of the 250 Welsh Government target of supporting young people to motivate and inspire them to think about self employment as a career option. SWWRH estimates during the first year to run 143 sessions with business involvement including Dynamo Role Models providing support to 2871 young people
7. Business led University collaborative projects The SWWRH will help Welsh Government achieve their target of developing 3 UEN University collaborative projects by using their own International links and expanding existing collaborative projects. SWWRH will continue to work with partners to develop 1 new University project this year.

EMPOWER

1.Young People in schools and Further Education Institutions involved in entrepreneurial learning opportunities

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving the 20,000 target across Wales by ensuring that all students within FE institutions have opportunities to get involved with events such as the Global Enterprise Challenge. We will also work with local schools to continue their engagement in enterprise activities as part of their curriculum offer and as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate qualification. SWWRH estimates they will achieve the target of 4327 young people in FE and HE and their work with schools will achieve a further 200 students.

2.Young People Further and Higher Education Institutions involved in entrepreneurial learning opportunities

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving the 50,000 target across Wales by ensuring that all students within FE and HE institutions have opportunities to get involved with events such as the Global Enterprise Challenge, business planning competitions and other similar competitions offered to young people. SWWRH estimates that the SWWRH will involve 4327 young people in enterprise activities.

3.Links with international partners

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in building links with international partners through our IEEP network, collaborative EU Leonardo and Erasmus projects and other similar projects to achieve the target of 4 partnerships SWWRH estimates during the first year we will achieve 2 new partnership links.

EQUIP

1.Young people attending Big Ideas Wales events

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving the 1000 target across Wales by ensuring that students within all SWWRH FE and HE institutions are informed about and encouraged to attend Big Ideas Events by including the information on their own host web sites on all the enterprise marketing material. SWWRH estimates to achieve 15,020 young people during the first year

2.Young people receiving start up support

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving their target of 3500 students to receive start up support target by ensuring that those students who wish to learn more about and decide to move forward into self employment, are referred to the relevant support agency and provided with help and advice in their plan of being self employed. SWWRH estimates to achieve 1192 young people during the first year

3. Graduates receiving start up support

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving the 1500 target of graduates receiving start up support by offering graduates who wish to take the next step into self employment all the necessary advice and guidance and refer them to the relevant agency. SWWRH estimates 15 graduates receive this support during the first year.

4. Number of bursaries awarded

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving the target of 250 bursaries awarded over 5 years by offering those who wish to apply for a bursary advice all the necessary advice and guidance as well as referring them to the necessary support agency. SWWRH estimates that they will support 8 young people in receiving a bursaries

5. Mentoring opportunities for young people

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving the target of 150 opportunities for mentoring by supporting the young people to build networks with business owners and use links already forged with organisations such as Chamber of Commerce and the Dynamo Role Model programme. SWWRH estimates to achieve 25 mentoring opportunities during the first year

The following 2 years figures being amended depending on the first years achieved figures

Key Milestones – Year 2

Discuss membership of steering group and expand membership if needed June 2013

Review all qualitative and quantative outcomes June 2013

Amend as necessary the second year delivery plans June 2013

Continue to deliver the outcomes above under Engage, Empower and Equip all 2013

Review last year’s events and plan a number of joint collaborative events September 2013

Undertake the collaborative events All year 2013

Meet each month to evaluate projects Monthly

Quarterly review meetings with steering group Nov, Feb, May, Aug 2013

The SWWRH will also achieve the following targets within the second year’s Milestones

ENGAGE

1.Sessions on www.BigIdeasWales.com THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving the 50,000 target across Wales over 5 years by ensuring that the Big Ideas Wales web site is promoted across all the institutions at all internal and external events and activities and will be included on all enterprise marketing materials and promotional information. SWWRH estimates to target 15,020 young people during the second year of the project
2.Uses of online tools to test entrepreneurial skills The SWWRH will help Welsh Government achieve the 12500 target for the use of online tools by encouraging young people within and outside their institutions to complete the Enterprise Catalyst. This will be offered to all students at each institution and included within the enrolment itinerary. SWWRH estimates 4450 young people will complete the on line tool during the second year of the project
3.Partner organisations registered on www.BigIdeasWales.com The SWWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving 150 partner organisations registered on the above web site by registering themselves as partner organisations and encourage other stakeholder and business partners to also register on the web site. SWWRH estimates to register 20 companies during the second year of the project
4.Participants outside education involved in awareness raising activities The SWWRH will support Welsh Government to achieve the target of 300 of those outside education to get involved in awareness raising activities through the various community programmes and partnership working across the region. SWWRH estimates to hit 30 young people during the second year are which will be community projects funded via other income streams.

5. Participants in Schools, Further and Higher Education involved in awareness raising activities The SWWRH will continue to support FE, HE and schools with guidance, training and best practice workshops to ensure that staff are confident in enterprise delivery, to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activities and help Welsh Government to achieve their 235,000 target. SWWRH estimates during the first year 20,435 young people across the region will take part in all the various activities undertaken during the second year.
6. Entrepreneurs supported to engage with young people The SWWRH will continue to use the Dynamo network and local business across the region to support the achievement of the 250 Welsh Government target of supporting young people to motivate and inspire them to think about self employment as a career option. SWWRH estimates during the second year to run 143 sessions with business involvement including Dynamo Role Models providing support to 2871 young people
7. Business led University collaborative projects The SWWRH will help Welsh Government achieve their target of developing 3 UEN University collaborative projects by using their own International links and expanding existing collaborative projects. SWWRH will continue to work with partners to develop 1 new University project this year.

EMPOWER

1.Young People in schools and Further Education Institutions involved in entrepreneurial learning opportunities

2.Young People Further and Higher Education Institutions involved in entrepreneurial learning opportunities

3.Links with international partners

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in building links with international partners through our IEEP network, collaborative EU Leonardo and Erasmus projects and other similar projects to achieve the target of 4 partnerships SWWRH estimates during the second year we will achieve 2 new partnership links.

EQUIP

1.Young people attending Big Ideas Wales events

2.Young people receiving start up support

3. Graduates receiving start up support

4. Number of bursaries awarded

5. Mentoring opportunities for young people

The third year’s figures will be amended depending on the second years achieved figures to ensure the SWWRH achieves its overall 3 year target.

The SWWRH will also achieve the following targets within their third year’s milestones

Key Milestones – Year 3

Review all qualitative and quantative outcomes June 2014

Amend as necessary the third year delivery plans June 2014

Discuss membership of steering group and expand membership if needed June 2014

Complete a report for Welsh Government on targets achieved June 2014

Start to deliver 3^rd year delivery plans at each institution Sept 2014

Continue to deliver the outcomes above under Engage, Empower and Equip all 2014

Review last year’s events and plan a number of joint collaborative events September 2014

Undertake the collaborative events All year 2014

Meet each month to evaluate projects Monthly

Quarterly review meetings with steering group Sept, Nov, Feb, May, Aug 2014

ENGAGE

1.Sessions on www.BigIdeasWales.com THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving the 50,000 target across Wales over 5 years by ensuring that the Big Ideas Wales web site is promoted across all the institutions at all internal and external events and activities and will be included on all enterprise marketing materials and promotional information. SWWRH estimates to target 15,020 young people during the final year of the project
2.Uses of online tools to test entrepreneurial skills The SWWRH will help Welsh Government achieve the 12500 target for the use of online tools by encouraging young people within and outside their institutions to complete the Enterprise Catalyst. This will be offered to all students at each institution and included within the enrolment itinerary. SWWRH estimates 4450 young people will complete the on line tool during the final year of the project
3.Partner organisations registered on www.BigIdeasWales.com The SWWRH will support the Welsh Government in achieving 150 partner organisations registered on the above web site by registering themselves as partner organisations and encourage other stakeholder and business partners to also register on the web site. SWWRH estimates to register 20 companies during the final year of the project
4.Participants outside education involved in awareness raising activities The SWWRH will support Welsh Government to achieve the target of 300 of those outside education to get involved in awareness raising activities through the various community programmes and partnership working across the region. SWWRH estimates to hit 30 young people during the third year are which will be community projects funded via other income streams.

5. Participants in Schools, Further and Higher Education involved in awareness raising activities The SWWRH will continue to support FE, HE and schools with guidance, training and best practice workshops to ensure that staff are confident in enterprise delivery, to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activities and help Welsh Government to achieve their 235,000 target. SWWRH estimates during the first year 20,435 young people across the region will take part in all the various activities undertaken during the year.
6. Entrepreneurs supported to engage with young people The SWWRH will continue to use the Dynamo network and local business across the region to support the achievement of the 250 Welsh Government target of supporting young people to motivate and inspire them to think about self employment as a career option. SWWRH estimates during the final year to run 143 sessions with business involvement including Dynamo Role Models providing support to 2871 young people
7. Business led University collaborative projects The SWWRH will help Welsh Government achieve their target of developing 3 UEN University collaborative projects by using their own International links and expanding existing collaborative projects. SWWRH will continue to work with partners to develop 1 new University project this year.

EMPOWER

1.Young People in schools and Further Education Institutions involved in entrepreneurial learning opportunities

2.Young People Further and Higher Education Institutions involved in entrepreneurial learning opportunities

3.Links with international partners

THE SSWRH will support the Welsh Government in building links with international partners through our IEEP network, collaborative EU Leonardo and Erasmus projects and other similar projects to achieve the target of 4 partnerships SWWRH estimates during the final year we will achieve 2 new partnership links.

EQUIP

1.Young people attending Big Ideas Wales events

2.Young people receiving start up support

3. Graduates receiving start up support

4. Number of bursaries awarded

5. Mentoring opportunities for young people

During the final year of the project the SWWRH will ensure that all projected targets set at the beginning of the funding period will be achieved to support the Welsh Governments outcomes as stated in the YES strategy.

The SWWRH will also achieve the following targets within their final year’s milestones

Key Milestones – Year 4

Review all qualitative and quantative outcomes June 2015

Amend as necessary the third year delivery plans June 2015

Discuss membership of steering group and expand membership if needed June 2015

Complete a report for Welsh Government on targets achieved June 2015

Start to deliver 3^rd year delivery plans at each institution Sept 2015

Continue to deliver the outcomes above under Engage, Empower and Equip all 2015

Review last year’s events and plan a number of joint collaborative events September 2015

Undertake the collaborative events All year 2015

Meet each month to evaluate projects Monthly

Final review meetings with steering group Sept, Nov

Please find below details of student Population as received from each institution, as stated in our delivery plan under all our hub activities the number of anticipated students are given who will be involved in the various activities. The engaging activities mainly focus on all learners via our institutions web site, moodle, student desktop and freshers fayre type activities, as you move down the funnel of empower and equip those numbers will be less and are again listed in our delivery plan.

University of Wales Trinity St David



	All Modes	Full time	Part time and other
Postgrad	1843	587	1256
Undergrad	6422	2677	3745
Totals	8265	3264	5001

Swansea Metropolitan University

Student numbers for last year, including full time and part time are 5659.

Pembroke College

Student Numbers

2010/11: FT:2324 PT:8730

2011/12: FT:2406 PT:7873

Neath Port Talbot College

2011/12 – No of FT learners enrolled was 4095 and 9110 PT

Gower College Swansea

Full Time Learners 4088

Part Time Learners 7519

Total number of learners 11607

Coleg Sir Gar

Full time = 3132

Part time = 7429

Swansea university figures

15,101

11.2 Project Management:

Following discussions with partners in the South West region, Gower College Swansea has become the prime candidate to lead on the regional hub

Over the past 3 years Gower College has been successful in leading the Swansea Bay Consortia for Enterprise and has developed robust structures and reporting mechanisms to ensure the effective monitoring of delivery of both the required targets and expenditure profiles for the consortia in meeting the Welsh Governments agenda on enterprise and entrepreneurship.

As a public sector organisation the College maintains complete accurate and detailed records that withstand rigorous audit and quality inspection both internally and externally and as the lead for the South West Wales Regional Hub this thorough record keeping will be taken on board by all partners involved in the Hub.

In taking the Regional Hub forward the College have the experience of large projects, we have partnerships in place with FE and HE partners, there are staff in place who have the experience and capability to deliver and monitor the project to an exceptionally high standard to ensure that all partners have rigid processes in place to ensure successful completion of the 3 year project.

Staffing

The South West Wales Hub will be centrally managed by a Regional Project Manager based in Gower College Swansea. They will be responsible for overall management of the project ensuring that the project delivers its key objectives, meets targets and delivers within budget. The Regional Project Manager will also be responsible for managing all relationships with delivery teams and organisations (partners and contractual), external stakeholders and the Welsh Government. The Regional Project Manager will be supported by a central administrator.

Staffing structure of the SWWRH will be as follows with Gower College Swansea as the lead

HUB STAFFING STRUCTURE

The partners and staffing numbers are as follows:

Gower College Swansea

Sue Poole

Tycoch Road

Tycoch

Swansea

SA2 9EB

For the hub 2 FTE = 1 project manager and one administrator

For delivery 2 part time staff champions as per delivery plan and 1 full time deliverer.1.25FTE

Neath Port Talbot College

Mirander Thomas

(Dwr-y-Felin Road, Neath, SA10 7RF

Contact Number - 01639 648000

4 staff will be engaged in the project (funded activity). This includes 2 Enterprise staff and 2 staff champions. All PT relative to the hours stated in the delivery plan and finance spreadsheet.

Coleg Sir Gar

Kerry Matthews

Sandy Rd, Sandy Road, Dyfed SA15 4DN

Contact Number - 01554 748000

Total is 1 FTE for hub plus 0.5 part time administrator

Pembrokeshire College

Aled Nicholas

External Funding Manager

Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA61 1SZ

Contact Number - 01437753414

Project Management Delivery and Co-ordination: 0.5 FTE

Other staff will contribute but won't be funded through the project - these include other tutors who will get involved, external funding staff etc.

Swansea University

Judith Jones

Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP
Contact Number - 01792 205 678

The number of staff involved in the project will be 1 FTE coordinator and 0.2 hub management (J James and college champions)

University of Wales: Trinity Saint David

Sally Hewes

Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, SA31 3EP

Contact Number – 01267 676767

The number of staff funded by the hub in terms of FTE equivalent is 0.27 for hub management and administration

Swansea Metropolitan University

Kathryn Penaluna

Mount Pleasant, Swansea, W Glam SA1 6ED
Contact Number - 01792 481000

Staff engaged on the programme will be the equivalent of 3 full time staff.

OTHER STAFFING

2 colleges have applied for staff champions and student interns they are Gower College Swansea and Neath Port Talbot College

Swansea University have also now applied for interns and this will be funded under practical experiences.

Staff Champions

Neath Port Talbot College

2 staff champions will be recruited to support enterprise activity and will facilitate activities funded by the hub. Staff champions are required in order to ensure that activities are as inclusive as possible and that learners across the college (and at different campuses) have the opportunity to take part (for example GEC which is held at 3 campuses). They will support the Enterprise Officer in facilitation and delivery of Engage and Empower activities.

Gower College Swansea

2 part time staff champions 0.25FTE total hours located in the each of our 2 Faculties - Services to People and STEM they will be supporting the embedding the delivery and expansion of enterprise across the college by engaging other delivery staff in their own faculty and supporting the Enterprise Manager to embed and deliver in all curriculum areas. These champions are essential to ensuring that we can embed enterprise across each curriculum area for 2012. They play a crucial part in each of our different campuses as we need to have staff on each site to continue to ensure that enterprise is delivered across all faculties and delivery areas.

The Impact is huge as these staff champions are our eyes and ears within each faculty, they are our foot soldiers who are out spreading the word and coming up with ideas and activities in each of the curriculum areas. Without these a number of our events and activities would not take place such as Electronic Elite Club. These champion will also, in various faculties, undertake themselves the delivery of Rounds One and Two of The Global Challenge and also support the preparation of other staff which all staff undertake in the college. They also deliver one off training for other staff members on how to be more enterprising in their delivery which frees up the Enterprise Manager to work with other staff and attend the Senior Managers meeting to continue to ensure enterprise is always on the agenda at senior level.

Student Interns
Enterprise Interns (these are the same just named differently in each institution)

Neath Port Talbot College

Student Enterprise Interns will be recruited to assist in the promotion of enterprise amongst the student population across the college and to support new developments (such as the student radio station) and encourage and support other learners in getting involved. They will work with interns from GCS as part of the Young Chamber of Commerce and will encourage other learners to engage in enterprise and business. This has in the past raised the profile of enterprise amongst staff and management (as well as learners) and has resulted in positive changes being made including the development of Centerprise and the awarding of additional funding for activities. We will encourage interns from multiple campuses in an attempt to ensure that provision is consistent across the college.

Gower College Swansea

Student Enterprise interns have proved to be an extremely cost effective way of organising and delivering focused enterprise events across both campuses in Gower College Swansea. They are able to engage and motivate other students in a way we could not. The interns recruited will also be members of The Young Chamber of Commerce who organise, facilitate and promote things such as the BEE club, and our Christmas small business Fayre across the college student base. They also work with The South West Wales Chamber to organise a number of high profile entrepreneurial events across Swansea Bay such as the Ruth Badger event, Claire Young event and our Lions Lair event. The benefits of having these interns are crucial to the success of our enterprise delivery plan for 2012- 2015.

Strategic Direction

To provide strategic direction and support, the project will establish a Regional Steering Group to oversee the implementation of project deliver, ensuring that the project meets its vision, and strategic objectives, and obtains value for money and the maximum impact possible with the funds available.

Exact membership of the Steering Group will be finalised once the project has been approved. However, it should include representation from:

FE and HE institutions in the South West Wales region
SWW Regional Learning Partnership Manager
Employer representation
Additional members / special advisors may include (but will not be limited to): Careers Wales and WG

The Regional Project Manager will also attend specific meetings across the region, including the BEES, SERP, and the Regional Learning Partnership. This will serve to disseminate details of project progress to the regional groups and will also be the conduit by which these groups inform the provision within the project.

The project will become the major vehicle for the delivery of enterprise skills acquisition in the South West region, with the partner organisations having a specific responsibility for the effective delivery of entrepreneurship provision.

The Project Steering Group will ensure that quality standards are established and adhered to, particularly those required by the awarding bodies including ESTYN and the Welsh Government (including the YES strategy). Each partner institution employs qualified staff with valuable enterprise specific experience, skills and knowledge and has established a successful track record in working with young people in an entrepreneurial capacity throughout the region.

The diagram below illustrates the proposed membership of the South West Wales Regional Hub

Radial Diagram

Additional resources will be required by Gower College Swansea to manage the project on behalf of the partnership including funding for project management and administration. The project management and monitoring staff of the lead partner will be based at the “Innovation Foundry within the Dylan Thomas Centre and all files and confidential information securely held in Skills and Enterprise for Business Centre in Swansea. Electronic systems will ensure direct access to Gower College Swansea’s corporate services and facilities - Finance, MIS, HR and IT. The locations are also convenient for most partners as it is adjacent to the M4 and is relatively central. Communication with partners will be undertaken in a variety of ways including electronically via e mail and video conferencing.

Each Hub member will:

Establish a project team to facilitate a clear audit trail for the activities that are delivered by each institution and to ensure the compliance with Welsh Government requirements for document retention. In addition, the lead partner will operate a strategic project finance team with overall responsibility for collating the necessary data for the claims process, and liaising with DBETS Enterprise Team for all aspects of the project.

Manage its own element of the project in line with its own individual management and IT systems. It is a requirement of DBETS that robust IT systems are maintained in order to assure the integrity of the data used for core funding purposes, and this project will utilise those existing systems.

Although some staff have specialised skills they are all trained in the data requirements of the LLWR. Continual emphasis on staff development ensures that there is sufficient staff trained in each area to cover planned and unplanned staff absences throughout the year.

Historical paperwork is stored within the secure office environment for two years, held within the College archive facility or archived with a specialist company depending on the length of time. Retention of all documentation will comply with the guidelines set out in WAG and European specifications.

Electronic data is stored centrally within the College on a designated server continually monitored and maintained by IT support staff.

All partners within the Hub will have similar systems and procedures where partners do not have anything in place, areas of best practice throughout the partnership will be used to ensure robust systems are maintained.

11.3 Quality of Delivery:

In addition to the Regional Central Team, each partner FEI will establish its own project team. The structure of these teams will vary according to the size and scope of project activity within each organisation.

This will involve project ownership and responsibility at a senior management level, a dedicated enterprise project manager (depending on the size and scope of their activities) who will have experience of entrepreneurship delivery and supported by a project administrative team.

(See diagram below)

(Suggested structure in each partner FEI/HEI)

Regional Project Administrator

Senior Management Representative

Enterprise Manager

The responsibilities for each of these posts will vary according to the roles that are identified by each FEI, and will include:

Enterprise Management – key responsibilities within each partner institution:

· Management of the project activities carried out within the SWW Regional Enterprise Hub project.

Management of the project funding and all aspects of budget monitoring, project performance management and compliance.
Management of project risks, including the development of contingency plans and sustainable post-project exit strategies.
Liaison between the partner services and co-ordination of project activities.
Attend regular project management group meetings, including the Regional Hub Project Steering Group,
Prepare and submit regular project reports to the College Senior Management Team and to the managing bodies of external agencies.
Work with employers, SSCs and external agencies to determine appropriate enterprise training provision
Work with project partners in the co-ordination of enterprise training provision in the South West Wales region

Marketing of the project to local companies and agencies;

· Ensure eligibility of beneficiaries and participants;

· Identify opportunities for embedding cross cutting themes;

· Monitoring and reporting on progress of activities against targets; and

· Liaison with college staff for the delivery of the SWWRH action plans;

Enterprise Administrator – key responsibilities:

· Maintain project records, including participant, beneficiary and financial details;

· Assist the Project Manager with project activities;

· Liaison with all parties and stakeholders involved with the project, including beneficiary companies, potential learners, tutors, college departments, employers and participants; and

· Undertake general office duties in relation to the project.

Enterprise Tutors – key responsibilities:

· Develop learning and assessment materials for enterprise provision;

· Design and implement learning and assessment plans and adhere to internal verification requirements;

· Deliver project related activities in the area of enterprise and entrepreneurship;

· Maintain learner records – these could include such things as beneficiary forms and attendance registers (these to be agreed with SWWRH Steering group)

· Meet quality assurance requirements for all aspects of project provision;

Management Skills

Experience

The project partners have extensive knowledge and experience of successfully delivering Welsh Government funded enterprise projects, both as individual institutions and on a consortium basis.

All partners have robust systems in place which include a nominated senior manager with responsibility and accountability for each funded project. These senior managers also undertake the line management for the Enterprise Managers for funded projects.

There is an established reporting mechanism within each of the institutions to ensure that senior management receive regular reports and updates regarding project progress and achievement against targets. This includes early notification of any increase in project risk, as identified in the project risk matrix.

Each partner organisation has an established External Funding Unit with responsibility for the delivery of Welsh Assembly and EU funded projects. This includes a systemic approach to the eligibility of activity and expenditure and the monitoring of project progress against profile, maintaining the audit trail and undertaking integrity checks to ensure that the project data is robust and accurate. The External Funding units work closely with the Finance Directorate within each organisation, ensuring financial probity and also that all financial and project data is maintained in line with elsh Assembly and EU requirements. The External Funding units also liaise with the external audit teams to ensure that annual audits are undertaken for each project.

Each partner will establish a project delivery team, according to the size and scope of the project activity for that organisation. Recruitment procedures will be followed, in accordance with College procedures for designated staff who will undertake the following roles for the project - project management / co-ordination and administration (according to the scale of the project). Recruitment for project posts will be internal / external according to the requirements of each partner institution. The timing of the recruitment process will be reflected in the budget profile for each of the project partners, and will ensure that key staff appointments are made in advance of meaningful activity taking place.

Appropriately Trained and Qualified Staff

Partner institutions have similar requirements with regard to the recruitment of staff – namely that staff hold appropriate qualifications and skills for their role. All delivery/assessment staff are required to have teaching and assessing qualifications to meet required need.

Planning and Review with Appropriate Standards

Curriculum planning and budgeting takes place annually during March and April. The Executive and Senior Management strategically review the skills and knowledge currently available across College and forecast future needs. A Development Action Plan is agreed for the area, with specific training needs identified per member of staff that are aligned to local requirements and quality standards. These are linked to the organisation’s strategic objectives.

Employer Feedback

As part of the management and monitoring process the institutions will gain feedback from stakeholders and employers. Employers are surveyed annually using a specifically focused questionnaire and results are critically analysed and discussed at appropriate meetings that includes Senior Management. This is also followed up by sector specific workshops, meetings and focus groups, and dialogue with SSCs to probe issues further and provide more qualitative feedback.

More specifically Gower College Swansea has a well structured and established marketing strategy which encourages input and feedback from employers. Activities within the strategy include workshops, open evenings, attendance at employer events, close links with SSCs and membership of the CBI and Chamber of Commerce. Employers are encouraged to feedback via questionnaires, email and the College website. All of this is evaluated and acted upon to further enhance the learners’ experience at the College.

Whilst these details relate specifically to Gower College Swansea, the other partner HE and FEIs operate similar systems and procedures for the management and target setting process for staff. This is reflected by all sponsor organisations being in receipt of the IIP award.

Competence of Front-line Delivery Staff

All staff will have occupational competence, accompanied by professional qualifications in their field of expertise.

11.4 Strategic Outputs:

Over the next 3 years the South West Wales Regional Hub will Facilitate a structured journey of entrepreneurship through staged progression to engage, empower and equip by:

Building on and developing the excellent work that the Welsh Government Enterprise funding has facilitated over the past 5 years, revisiting best practice and lessons learned to ensure value for money and a quality provision moving forward. Continue the successful collaboration over the past few years with Dragon Innovation Partnership, Swansea Bay Consortia, Local Regenerations Partnerships, and local learning networks, the SWWRH is in an enviable position to build on these successes; lessons learned and shared best practice to date, to deliver a quality experience for young people.

Engaging with all individuals during their time at the institution whether face to face or via social media however our plan for the future is to continue to provide a structured journey of entrepreneurship with events and activities designed to provide a staged progression through engage, empower and equip. These activities would provide these young people with a high quality unforgettable entrepreneurial experience.

· Planning and undertaking a number of focussed events to focus on young people aged 16 – 24. These will start with our engaging activities such as Freshers Fayre, Enterprise Catalyst, high impact role model talks at each institution, moving onto staged progression by using Enterprise Clubs, Student Intern meetings and Young Chamber events which will empower them to think about self employment as a career possibility. Finally we will provide the young people with a range of opportunities to Equip them with the skills, and tools to develop their business ideas such as business competitions, focussed workshops, role model events and one to one mentoring from the Government approved provider. The FE HE Regional Hub will also recognise the value of wider engagement with stakeholders and other partners and utilise opportunities for young people to get involved in the wide number of activities which present themselves during the year such as Money for Life Challenge, National Business Plan competitions and other events as and when they arise.

Taking into consideration the wider partnerships we will look to engage with startup providers, local authority, RLP and other stakeholders to ensure a co-ordinated approach to entrepreneurship delivery and support for business start up ensuring that there is no duplication and ensuring value for money.

The South West Wales Regional Hub will look to make the most of other funding streams to ensure a consistent high quality provision for young people including the use of local authority funding, 14-19 funding, Young Enterprise and Shell Live wire grants and bursaries together with utilising the centrally procured services. Providing tailored support for those graduates with high potential start ups in key priority sectors.

SWWRH will promote all centrally procured services such as the Dynamo role models and consider this important resource when planning all in-house and collaborative activities and events to inspire young people. Promote internally and externally the Big Ideas Wales workshops to young people and the local community using their institutions web site and social media streams together with student enterprise interns as peer to peer viral marketing.

Working with the Welsh Government start up services the SWWRH will provide practical support for young people with mentoring, workshops and other opportunities, signposting them to the relevant support to help them embark on a business venture.

Meeting partners including Go Wales, Welsh Government Start up Support services, HEFCW Innovation and Engagement the National CPD Hub and local authority partners on a regular basis to ensure we align our provision moving forward.

Developing our existing business engagement through the South West Wales Chamber of Commerce, and providing improved co-ordination with the Lead institution by ensuring greater alignment with the Welsh Government Start Up support services, Dynamo role models and other centrally procured services when planning in house and regional events and activities. These will be listed in the annual delivery plans agreed at the outset of project. Using staff at each institution to market the centrally procured services within each of their institutions complying with the Operations Manual.

Work with Chamber of Commerce, CBI, Sector Skills Councils to expand our base of local and national businesses to provide young people with role models and opportunities for mentoring and work placements while also taking advantage of the Dynamo Role Model programme.

Appointing a strategic lead for enterprise and an appropriate management team in each partner institution who will oversee the management and delivery of the project. This team will have responsibility for the coordination of enterprise activities in their institution and provide administration support for reporting monthly and quarterly activity to the regional lead. Working with this strategic lead in each institution to plan the 3 year strategy, the lead partner will provide partners within the Regional Hub an agreed delivery plan for the next 3 years highlighting the 3 stages in the progression for young people to engage, empower and equip young people for start up. The individual institutional plans will feed into the regional hub’s strategy. Planning with all partners of the SWWRH will take place during the first 6 months of contract now called the planning quarter ( Sept to March) with the Lead providing each institution with a detailed breakdown of agreed actions for the region.

Utilising Big ideas Wales as a communication tool engage with young people and build relationships with partner organisations. The Regional hub will ensure that all activities, events, good news stories, workshops etc are included on the Big Ideas Web site to gain maximum attendance across the Region.

Each institution will, if possible, link the Big Ideas web site to their own institutions web site and use social media such as twitter and facebook to showcase any events organized by the Welsh Government and other partners. Partners will include The Big Ideas web site address on all the marketing leaflets and banners used during events and activities that young people both within education and those not in education or employment attend.

Using the www.BigIdeasWales.com web site as a cost effective method of communicating to young people the SWWRH will ensure all young people at each institution and partner organisations can access information on the events and activities being undertaken across the region by ensuring that all institutions include the Big Ideas web site on their own home pages, and the branding is used on all enterprise marketing material, event publications etc.

Building on existing provision we will investigate further funding streams to ensure the sustainability of enterprise delivery into the future.

Working with and supporting both primary and secondary schools we will ensure a quality enterprise experience is provided to all young people from aged 5 onwards.

Engaging with other regional hubs including the National CPD Hub and other stakeholders to ensure that the sharing of best practice takes place. Developing staff training to a consistently high quality across the region while working with the National CPD hub to ensure procurement savings are made to ensure that all young people have a quality journey through the enterprise journey with highly trained staff delivering the training to our young people.

Providing information to young people who wish to take advantage of shadowing opportunities and enterprise boot camps as and when the opportunities arise.

Continuing to build on our relationships with other stakeholders such as the Regional Learning Partnership, Sector Skills Council, Skills for Industry project, Business networks, Chamber of Commerce and other business relationships already in place, the SWWRH will expand the network of business engagement to ensure that young people are given the opportunity to engage with business leaders and the curriculum is fit for purpose.

Appointing a strategic lead for enterprise and an appropriate management team in each partner institution who will oversee the management and delivery of the project. This team will have responsibility for the coordination of enterprise activities in their institution and provide administration support for reporting monthly and quarterly activity to the regional lead.

Ensuring a robust and detailed evaluation and monitoring process is in place at each partner institution using the YES evaluation framework as a benchmark. The Regional Lead will arrange for the training of administration staff at each institution to use approved procedures to ensure that each institution is fully up to date with the policies and procedures and that all relevant reporting forms are used and deadlines are agreed and adhered to.

Adhering to guidance provided in the Operations Manual to be developed in partnership with Hub leaders.

Ensuring that the Regional Lead coordinates all annual delivery plans from all partners to ensure a consistent approach. The delivery plan will utilise the centrally procured services, and utilise other Government funding streams while taking into consideration associated regional partner activity to provide a quality experience to the young people across the region.

Focussing our planning and delivery over the next 3 years on the effective use of existing resources such as available regional funds, experienced staff, physical resources such as equipment and technology etc to offer economies of scale and best value for money.

Continue to identify opportunities to self sustain and embed entrepreneurship delivery into the core of each institutions activities using a number of routes which include using The Welsh Baccalaureate, The Enterprise Catalyst, Big Ideas Wales, Flagship National Events, regional events, business start up workshops and surgeries.

Underpinning the activities will be the detailed delivery and communication plans which will underpin the activities of the SWWRH and these are detailed under separate Annex (see annual delivery and communication plan for the region attached with the application)

The quantitative outputs are taken from each partner delivery plans sent to the regional lead for input into the master delivery and financial forms.

Below are the SWWRH’s Quantative Outcomes

Engaging with students. This figure will include a number of events and activities to engage with the students including face to face, tutorial workshops, Freshers Fayre, presentations, web based interactions, social media, institutions own moodle systems, student e mails and other methods of communicating and engaging with students.

ENGAGE

1.Sessions on www.BigIdeasWales.com THE SSWRH will support the WG in achieving the 50,000 target across Wales over 5 years by ensuring that the Big Ideas Wales web site is promoted across all the institutions at all the internal and external events and activities and will be included on all marketing materials and promotional information. SWWRH estimates to hit during the first year 15,020 young people
2.Uses of online tools to test entrepreneurial skills The SWWRH will help WG achieve the 12500 target to for the use of online tools by encouraging young people within and outside their institutions to complete the Enterprise Catalyst. This will be offered to all students at each institution and included within the enrolment itinerary. SWWRH estimates to hit during the first year 4450 young people
3.Partner organisations registered on www.BigIdeasWales.com The SWWRH will support the WG in achieving 150 partner organisations registered on the above web site by registering themselves as partner organisations and encourage other stakeholder partners to also register on the web site. SWWRH estimates to register 20 companies during the first year
4.Participants outside education involved in awareness raising activities The SWWRH will support WG to achieve the target of 300 of those outside education to get involved in awareness raising activities through the various community programmes and partnership working across the region. SWWRH estimates to hit 30 young people during the first year are which will be community projects funded via other income streams.

5. Participants in Schools, Further and Higher Education involved in awareness raising activities The SWWRH will continue to support FE, HE and schools with guidance, training and best practice workshops to ensure that staff are confident in delivery to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial activities and help WG to achieve their 235,000 target set. SWWRH estimates to hit during the first year 20,435 young people across the region who will have taken part in all the various activities undertaken during the year.
6. Entrepreneurs supported to engage with young people The SWWRH will use continue to use the Dynamo network across the region and local business links to support the achievement of the 250 WG target of supporting young people to motivate and inspire them to think about self employment as a career option. SWWRH estimates to hit during the first year 143 sessions with business involvement including Dynamo Role Models providing support to 2871 young people
7. Business led University collaborative projects The SWWRH will help WG achieve their target of developing 3 UEN University collaborative projects by using their own International links and developing expanding existing collaborative projects. SWWRH will continue to work with partners to develop 1 new University project this year.

EMPOWER

1.Young People in schools and Further Education Institutions involved in entrepreneurial learning opportunities

THE SSWRH will support the WG in achieving the 20,000 target across Wales by ensuring that all students within FE institutions have opportunities to get involved with events such as the Global Enterprise Challenge. We will also work with local schools to continue their engagement in enterprise activities as part of their curriculum offer and as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate qualification. SWWRH estimates they will achieve target of 4327 young people in FE and HE and with their work with schools will hit a further 200 students.

2.Young People Further and Higher Education Institutions involved in entrepreneurial learning opportunities

THE SSWRH will support the WG in achieving the 50,000 target across Wales by ensuring that all students within FE and HE institutions have opportunities to get involved with events such as the Global Enterprise Challenge, business planning competitions and other similar competitions offered to young people. SWWRH estimates that the SWWRH will involve 4327 young people in enterprise activities.

3.Links with international partners

THE SSWRH will support the WG in building links with international partners through our IEEP network, collaborative EU Leonardo and Erasmus projects and other similar projects to achieve the target of 4 partnerships SWWRH estimates during the first year we will achieve 2 new partnership links.

EQUIP

1.Young people attending Big Ideas Wales events

THE SSWRH will support the WG in achieving the 1000 target across Wales

by ensuring that students within all SWWRH FE and HE institutions are informed about and encouraged to attend Big Ideas Events by including the information on their own host web sites on all the marketing material. SWWRH estimates to hit during the first year are 15,020 young people

2.Young people receiving start up support

THE SSWRH will support the WG in achieving their target of 3500 students to receive start up support target by ensuring that those students who wish to learn more about and decide to move forward into self employment, are referred to the relevant support agency and provided with help and advice in their plan of being self employed self employment. SWWRH estimates to hit during the first year 1192 young people.

3. Graduates receiving start up support

THE SSWRH will support the WG in achieving the 1500 target of graduates receiving start up support by offering graduates who wish to take the next step into self employment all the necessary advice and guidance and refer them to the relevant agency. SWWRH estimates to hit during the first year 15 graduates.

4. Number of bursaries awarded

THE SSWRH will support the WG in achieving the target of 250 bursaries awarded over 5 years by offering those who wish to apply for a bursary advice all the necessary advice and guidance as well as referring them to the necessary support agency. SWWRH estimates that they will support 8 young people in receiving a bursaries

5. Mentoring opportunities for young people

THE SSWRH will support the WG in achieving the target of 150 opportunities for mentoring by supporting the young people to build networks with business owners and use links already forged with organisations such as Chamber of Commerce and the Dynamo Role Model programme. SWWRH estimates to hit 25 during the first year

University of Wales Trinity St David and Swansea Metropolitan University are working in partnership under a HEFCW funded programme and therefore some activities are not funded via YES strategy but from this HEFCW funding. Swansea University are researching into whether they are part of this project and will confirm.

Regarding the HEFCW Enterprise Support Programme clarification is set out below from Trinity who are leading on this project:-

Funded by Welsh Government YES strategy

Activities

· Engage - Awareness raising activities; networking zone activities

· Empower - Student led activities; business idea workshops

· Equip - central point of contact for support and signposting; networking zone activities/pre-start working space

Funded via HEFCW

· HEFCW Enterprise Support Programme

· Drop-in sessions offering mentoring and support; mapping and identifying knowledge gaps; developing and delivering entrepreneurial effectiveness training sessions.

11.5 Evaluation:

The criteria for the evaluation of the project will be agreed within three months of approval during the planning phase of the first year and will be communicated to all project staff.

The specification for the evaluation will follow the guidance being developed for Welsh Assembly Funds and will include:

Introduction and background to project;
Aims and Objectives of evaluation;
Methodology;
Relevant Sources of Information;
Reports required i.e. inception, interim, final;
Timetable/milestones;
Reference to Data Protection Act;
Criteria relating to award of contract;
A nominated contact within the project; and
Cost options.

Evaluation will be ongoing, qualitative and quantitative, formative and summative, and will be an agenda item on the monthly project meetings. This process will ensure that the project team are fully aware of:

The objectives of the project;
The achievement of targets against forecasts;
Project milestones and their achievement;
The incorporation of the cross cutting themes within all project activities;
Financial progress against profile;
Any potential concerns / problems that have been identified;
External factors that may be affecting the project in any way;
The impact of the project;
The need for remedial actions / interventions;
Value for money in terms of project activity; and
The need for any communication with the Welsh Assembly Government regarding progress against the project profiles.

Forward project planning will be informed by the evaluation process, and any necessary amendments to the profiles for the project can be implemented in good time, as the result of comprehensive evaluation mechanisms.

Evaluation criteria will also be incorporated into the Partnership Agreements that are agreed with the partner institutions.

Representatives of each of the partner institutions will be among the membership of the Regional Hub Project Steering Group, and so will be in a position to communicate details of project progress to the other members of the group.

Given that there will be qualitative and quantitative evaluation, the evaluation forms relating to the delivery of activities will be summarised and reported on using the Welsh Government agreed template which will be provided in the Operations Manual

Quantitative data will be drawn from the institutions’ management information system, which records details of all organisation provision, students and learning programmes. This data will be measured against the targets and outputs for the project, and will inform any amendments / changes to the project which will then be communicated to the Welsh Assembly Government.

This reporting mechanism will incorporate all stages in the evaluation process, including the monitoring reports to the Welsh Government and the external audit reports and any recommendations. This will ensure that all partner colleges are kept up to date with the progress of the project, and have the opportunity to inform future developments.

Annual external audits will be undertaken, and any recommendations or actions that are identified as a result of this process will also feed into the evaluation process in accordance with the Welsh Government guidelines.

Project team representatives will attend seminars and exhibitions, where appropriate, and will promote the project activities, outcomes and benefits via these events. Project outcomes will also be publicised through other various mechanisms including:

Employer Fora
Specific groups i.e. BEES. SERP etc
South West Wales Regional Learning Partnership
Dissemination events /business workshops/seminars
Regional Provider Network Advocate
Sector Skills Councils
Local Regeneration Partnerships
Big Ideas Wales
Local Learning Networks
Role Models

11.6 Dissemination:

The SWW Regional Hub will use many of the current lines of communication to disseminate the outputs and achievements undertaken as a result of the activities delivered through the project. The Hub will utilise various methods such as Big ideas Wales as a communication tool to engage with the young people and build relationships with partner organisations to promote the findings and achievements from the project. The Regional hub will ensure that all activities, events, good news stories, workshops etc are included on the Big Ideas Web site to gain maximum exposure across the Region.

The SWW Regional Enterprise Hub will also recognise the value of wider engagement with stakeholders, and utilise opportunities for young people to promote and showcase the work they have undertaken through ventures like the Money for Life Challenge and National Business Plan competitions.

To promote and disseminate the achievements and result of the Hub’s activities on a wider scale, the project will showcase activities at National events such as the Enterprise Annual Conference

The Hub will also use internal staffing structures to disseminate the activities run within the partnership in their own institutions, Enterprise managers in each of the organisations will produce newsletters, articles on College websites and promotional materials, they will report and update senior managers through regular meetings within the institutions on the success stories, and organise showcase events.

In terms of the Hub’s strategic impact both regionally and locally, progress on the implementation of the work of the Regional Entrepreneurship Hub will be reported on a regular basis to Regional Learning Partnership South West Wales through the following groups;

HE / FE Sub-Group – membership of this group includes the Vice Chancellors and Principals of the region’s Higher and Further Education Institutions, including the Open University in Wales.

RLP Strategy and RLP Steering Group – this includes representation from the region’s HE and FE Institutions, Local Authorities (Regeneration & Education Departments), the third sector, the private sector through the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, National Training Federation for Wales, Jobcentre Plus, Careers Wales and NIACE Dysgu Cymru.

11.7 Monitoring and reporting:

Project activity will be monitored on a monthly basis using the Welsh Government agreed template which will be provided in the Operations Manual. Part of this mechanism will be to identify how these activities relate to the delivery plan, and in particular, their contribution towards achieving the project milestones and the project targets. Performance against these projections will be an integral part of the monitoring process.

Monitoring will involve the constant scrutiny of project activities, including administrative arrangements, financial analysis, achievement of objectives, participant progress and attainment, resource issues, time tabling and staff development needs. Internal audit checks will also be carried out by project staff within each HEI/FEI on a monthly basis indicating the project performance against quantitative and qualitative targets.

Indicators and targets for this project have been identified in line with the:

Welsh Government YES Strategy;
LMI
Employer and Sectoral Information

In order to demonstrate that the project is delivering against the project plan, data recording, monitoring and reporting will reflect these targets. This analysis will be undertaken individually by each partner institution, to inform the overall project results. This will include target areas as indicated by the Strategic Objectives of the Welsh Government YES Strategy to ensure that these areas are fully represented within the activities of the project.

Guidelines for HEI/FEIs will be prepared in readiness for each college to write a monitoring and evaluation plan. It is recognised that each institution will have it’s own protocols regarding this process, and the guidelines allow this flexibility. The Regional Project Manager will ensure that each of the FEIs provides the data and information to inform the final report for the project.

Data Management

The young people engaging in entrepreneurial activities within the project will complete a detailed participant form which will be specially designed to capture relevant data that can then be reported to the Welsh Government in statistical format. (this will be found in the Operations Manual)

The quality of provision will be evaluated using the Colleges’ Quality Assurance mechanisms, and will include feedback from participants regarding all aspects of the activities delivered through the project.

Attendance records will be maintained and records of attendance will also be kept with regard to meetings with, and visits. Paper records will be used to record these details, and all parties will sign and date the documents.

Data recording mechanisms will be electronic to avoid the unnecessary use of paper based resources, but in order to maintain the required audit trail, documents requiring a formal signature and any financial material such as invoices, receipts etc. will all be retained for audit purposes.

The institutions operate monitoring systems for all externally funded projects. Each institution will undertake to monitor progress against targets – both financial and participant – and calculate variance rates. Any variance greater than 5% will be reported to the Regional Project Steering Group, with an accompanying statement regarding the actions that will be taken to address this situation. This will ensure that remedial action can be taken by each HEI/FEI before the variances reach the Welsh Government threshold.

All project documentation relating to data collection will comply with Welsh Government requirements. Data will be:

· Captured via the organisations’ beneficiary forms to meet WG requirements while acknowledging WG and ERDF support and requiring a signature.

· Processed through the institutions’ appropriate departments, once participant forms have been checked and approved for eligibility purposes.

· Checked to ensure that participants are recorded only once within the project. Whilst it is recognised that participants will be able to access project activities on more than one occasion, the institutions will ensure that each young person is included only once for the purpose of achievement against targets.

· Analysed for the purpose of measuring progression of project participants.

Gower College Swansea will report the monitoring data to the Welsh Assembly in the format specified by, and according to the timeframes laid down by the Welsh Assembly.

This will include:

qualitative reports, prepared by the Project Manager;
quantitative evaluation of progress towards targets and profiles;
progress towards achieving the targets relating to the cross cutting themes;
an update of the project milestones and their achievement; and
financial data and claims.

All project documentation will be retained by the partner institutions, in accordance with the Welsh Government requirements. The contracts issued to the other institutions will specify the documentation that will need to be collected by them, and timescales for ensuring that relevant data, updates and reports are lodged with Gower College Swansea for reporting and evaluation purposes. Gower College Swansea will undertake regular monitoring visits to each of the partner institutions, to ensure that the audit trail complies with the Welsh Government requirements. These visits will also serve to verify confidential data that cannot be released by the partner institutions, such as salary details and employment contracts.

Project documentation that contains personal information will carry a data protection disclosure.

Electronic information will be retained on the institutions’ IT systems. Back up of institution data is undertaken daily, and the data is stored at an off-site location. Access to this data will be restricted to those authorised by the HEI/FEIs.

Paper documentation will be retained in accordance with the Welsh Government requirements, and stored in secure facilities.

The institutions will comply with the Welsh Government requirements regarding the retention of documentation relating to the relevant funding body.

Project activity will be monitored on a monthly basis using the Welsh Government agreed template which will be provided in the Operations Manual . Part of this mechanism will be to identify how these activities relate to the delivery plan, and in particular, their contribution towards achieving the project milestones and targets and the project targets. Performance against these projections will be an integral part of the monitoring process

11.8 Sustainability of the Strategy:

Following its conclusion the project will endeavor to create a legacy that will enable the Regional Hub to continue to develop and nurture self-sufficient entrepreneurial young people across the South West Wales Region, contributing positively to economic and social success, and collaborating with stakeholders across the locality.

Each partner institution within the Hub will play a critical part in continuing to deliver the vision for South West Wales, and will become a fundamental vehicle for the embedding and delivery enterprise activities through mainstream funding.

Building on success of the hub, all partners will continue to provide a strategic and coherent approach to delivery, providing opportunities for young people to develop their entrepreneurial skills, and continue to develop the strong links with Private, Public and Third Sector Stakeholders. It will also work in partnership with the CPD National Hub to ensure the development of an entrepreneurial culture in each institution within the region.

To assist in its sustainability partners will also look to make the most of alternative funding streams to strengthen the consistent high quality provision for young people including the use of local authority funding, 14-19 funding, together with utilising the centrally procured services. Provide young people with information on Young Enterprise and Shell Live wire grants and bursaries to provide support for those graduates with high potential start ups in key priority sectors.

Partners will continue to meet on a regular basis with external agencies such as Go Wales, Welsh Government Start up Support services, HEFCW Innovation and Engagement, the National CPD Hub and local authority partners to ensure they align future provision with existing and future regional and national strategies.

Members of the Hub will build upon the existing business links developed as part of the project through the South West Wales Chamber of Commerce, CBI, Sector Skills Councils to expand the base of local and national businesses to provide young people with role models and opportunities for mentoring and work placements while also taking advantage of the Dynamo Role Model programme.

The institutions will also continue to play a vital role in delivering an all age strategy for the region, working with, and supporting both primary and secondary schools offering a quality enterprise experience, providing support to all young people from aged 5 onwards. Partners will look to embed enterprise training and support into the core activities of the institution by using staff to provide support in delivering the primary programme within their region using existing links previously made with primary schools, it will also use staff at each institution to market the centrally procured services ensuring that an effective and consistent approach is maintained for the delivery of enterprise and entrepreneurial training and establishing a legacy that ensures that Regional Hub for South West Wales will continue to positively impact of the lives of young people and that of the local economy.

11.9 Equality and Diversity:

The project will support the implementation of positive action to ensure that the development opportunities for young people will be available, regardless of race, ethnic group, disability, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion or age. The project management structure will ensure that the guidelines set out by the Welsh Government are embedded within the projects systems and procedures. These guidelines will underpin all project activities.

To assist project partners in developing broader participation from minority groups and effecting the requisite culture change in support of this aim, the project will identify potential opportunities for minority groups to progress within the targeted enterprise routes. Case studies and examples of good practice will be highlighted as the means of illustrating the benefits of learning in terms of progression.

The activities identified will contribute towards the required attitudinal change towards the traditional patterns of occupational segregation that exist within some sectors. The identification of the potential opportunities for overcoming these barriers, the subsequent evidence of the benefits of greater integration of the minority groups into the workforce and the resulting benefits will all form part of the management development. ;

All participants will be required to provide data that will enable the partner colleges to monitor progress towards equal opportunities targets, specifically:

Ethnicity
Race
Gender
Age
Disability
Work limiting health condition
Sexual orientation
Marital status
Religion
Language and learning in relation to the Welsh language
Support requirements with regard to disability, learning difficulties and medical conditions

The collection of this data will be undertaken via the institutions enrolment form, and the partners management information system will be the vehicle by which the data will be collated and summarised to monitor progress towards the stated aims and targets of the project.

The Regional Enterprise Hub will:

· Provide up-skilling opportunities to enable young people to access enterprise training opportunities and career progression

· Ensure that project materials will be screened and assessed for accessibility, including content, materials used, colour, font size and design, language, images, availability and targeting.

· Support the provision of opportunities for young people and those needing generic skills to progress.

· Provide support for flexible provisions to enable individuals to progress in employment i.e. learning opportunities.

· Provide support for targeted interventions which address barriers specific groups experience accessing training and self employment

· Ensure that project materials will be screened and assessed for accessibility, including content, materials used, colour, font size and design, language, images, availability and targeting.

· The project activity will be monitored by the Steering Group and members will also monitor the level of progress in terms of equal opportunities.

As equal opportunity employers, all project partners make a direct commitment to promote flexible working, gender balance, equality and diversity. Gower College Swansea’s Equality and Diversity Policy fully complies with Equality Legislation and demonstrates its commitment to the implementation of the equal opportunities agenda. It provides information, advice and guidance to all staff and students as well as opportunities to raise awareness of equality and diversity.

As equal opportunity employers, all project partners should have both a Single Equality Scheme, and Equality and Diversity Policy that outlines its legislative duties. It should also identifies the actions required to meet these duties across all its activities, including partnership activity, procurement, work experience and work placements.

The scheme complements the Welsh Government’s Equality and Diversity Strategy building on the three former equality schemes for gender, race and disability, and focusing on the additional strands of religion and belief / non belief; age, sexual orientation and transgender issues. It also reflects the WG scheme which acknowledges the principles of human rights: freedom; respect; equality and diversity.

Partners should also measures and report on progress and areas for improvement in course review documentation, self-assessment reports and quality development plans. The Single Equality Scheme and Action Plan, is reviewed annually whilst the scheme is reviewed every three years. As part of the review process, the following groups are consulted:

External Agencies
Learners and staff
Diversity Committee
Equality Groups
Governing Body
Senior Management Planning Team
Quality Management Group
Trade Unions

The College also provides an annual Equality and Diversity Progress Report to the Audit Committee and HR Committee, which is also published on the College website

All tender documents include references to the Equality and Diversity Policy and this is discussed at pre-contract meetings. Compliance is monitored and any issues are discussed at monthly meetings. Copies of the Equality scheme are available on the College website.

11.10 Welsh Language:

Partners of the Regional Enterprise Hub including Gower College Swansea all have a published Welsh Language Scheme (WLS) in compliance with Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) requirements under section 9 of the Welsh Language Act 1993. The WLS clearly identifies targets for Welsh medium and bilingual learning. Targets are derived using local data on the numbers of Welsh speakers together with nationally derived data and targets from WAG.

In addition, all partners within the Regional Hub will ensure that all advertising and publicity activities will be promoted bilingually in a manner that treats the two languages on a basis of equality. Some examples of materials that are/will be produced bilingually include:

• All publicity literature aimed at the general public

• Direct mailing including promotional material and surveys

• Media/press advertising

• Public surveys

• Direct marketing campaigns

• Exhibition and Information stands

• Poster advertising

Each partner will have similar structures and procedures in place to meet the requirements of the Welsh Language Act.

Within its day to day operations the College, has actively encouraged the number of students learning through the Welsh language or bilingually, and has recognized staff that can deliver the project’s activities through the medium of Welsh or bilingually. Furthermore all students, including those undertaking enterprise activities, can receive tutorials and pastoral support either bilingually or through the medium of Welsh.

Gower College Swansea is a member of the adult consortium that plans the co-ordinated Welsh language learning across the whole of South West Wales. It is led by the University of Swansea Department of Adult and Community Learning. Where Gower College is unable to provide specific training through the medium of Welsh, they will work in collaboration through an active partnership arrangement with local providers, e.g. City and County of Swansea and Welsh Medium Schools to provide it.

Every effort will be made to develop a welsh culture within the partners across the SWWRH. The use of the welsh language by learners and staff is actively encouraged, particularly where learners identify themselves as welsh speakers but wish to study through English.

Information on staff Welsh language skills are recorded centrally and efforts are made to ensure that welsh speaking staff are employed on all routes within the programme. Currently all routes have staff with Welsh speaking skills and several routes, including the priority sector of health, have staff that are able to assess learners through Welsh. A staff development programme is in place to enable staff to develop their skills as well as a beginners programme for those wishing to develop new skills.

12. Communication Plan

The South West Wales Regional Hub will use a variety of tools to communicate to key stakeholders ensuring that all communication methods will comply with the Welsh Government branding guidelines. These communication methods include the following:

External Hub communications

Monthly regional partner meetings to, evaluate the effectiveness of our strategic plan and make any amendments necessary to ensure the vision is achieved.
Partners to continue to be members of, and attend the various strategic partnership meeting such as RLP, BEES, SERPS, 14-19 networks, FE/HE strategy groups, Local Regeneration Partnerships, and local learning networks to inform current and future policy decisions.
Meet with community groups and key decision makers from Local Education Departments and secondary and primary schools heads to support them in embed enterprise within the curriculum from primary to Higher Education.
Attendance at regional enterprise network meetings
Updating Welsh Government departments on success stories such as Education and Skills and DBETS
Using Big Ideas Wales to showcase the SWWRH activity

Measuring the effectiveness of our external communication methods will be via

Increased awareness within the partners in the region of the SWWRH activity
Regional and local press stories on projects undertaken
Attendance at and contributing to, national conferences to showcase the work undertaken within the region
Increase in the collaborative activities of the partnership
Increase in the participation rates of young people in enterprise activities

Internal institution communication

Attending all Senior Management meetings, informing governors of current position on enterprise development, attending meetings at a delivery level such as Deans of Faculty meetings , Head of School meetings etc

Embed The Big Ideas Wales web site into each institutions web sites to communicate directly with young people on events, activity and important flagship events. Each institution will use their web site to direct young people to The Big Ideas web site which will inform young people about relevant information and areas to consider on their journey to business start up. This communication tool will also inform young people on projects being delivered within the Youth Entrepreneurship Services.

Ensure that the Moodle site is continually updated with relevant and informative information for young people.

Using Twitter, facebook and other social media we will inform young people of events and activities and encourage these young people to register as members on the Big Ideas website to ensure that they received alerts on the full range of different activities taking place across the region and nationally, the result of them registering on the site will be an increase in the numbers of young people interested in entrepreneurship across Wales.

The SWWRH will use the partner area of the big Ideas Wales web site to download good news stories, pictures, case studies and video clips to encourage more young people to attend future events. The tutorial programme and core delivery within FE will be used as an opportunity to showcase role models one of the centrally procured services to engage more young people into self employment. Local and national press will play a large part in communicating to our stakeholders stories of successes and events taking part across the region and during the project period.

Using peer to peer marketing (student interns) we will communicate messages to young people relating to events, activities, role model events, business planning workshops and competitions.

Utilising the designated person responsible for enterprise at each institution and staff enterprise champions we will ensure that staff attend enterprise staff training sessions to support the embedding of enterprise across each faculty or school who will in turn encourage young people to attend events and activities during the project period.

Measuring the effectiveness of our internal communication methods will be via

Attendance registers at events showing increasing attendance over the year
Positively completed feedback beneficiary forms,
Young people attending more than one event once their interest has been raised
Young people signposted to business start up advice
Attendance at business start up workshops
New business start ups

13. Annual Delivery Plan

Please see completed Annex A detailing all planned activities and operational outputs for the Hub over the next 12 months of funding.

14. Additional information (500 words):
Please provide any additional information that you would like to add to support your application.

The establishment of the Regional Entrepreneurship Hub in South West Wales will support the work of the Regional Learning Partnership which has been established against a backdrop of regional working between the Local Authorities of South West Wales. A Regional Board of Local Authority Leaders and Chief Executives meets 5 times per annum to review a work programme of prioritised regional working activity, facilitated by the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).

The Board has identified the following priorities for collaborative working where it adds value to local delivery: education and lifelong learning; social care and health; regeneration; waste management; transport and procurement. The RLP reports to this Board and works alongside other collaborative work streams overseen by the Board, such as regeneration. The partnership covers the counties of Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

The main vision of the RLPSWW is to develop a region where equality of opportunity and access to appropriate high quality learning opportunities are delivered consistently and efficiently for the benefit of the regional economy.’

The regional hub will ‘add value’ to the region’s key regeneration objectives with respect to:

achieving a fully productive economy with high quality jobs;
ensuring a wide range of employment opportunities for young people (increasing retention);
establishing an enterprise culture in which young people and adults have the confidence to start new businesses, and are happy to take enterprise risks;
increasing self-reliance among businesses, communities and people.

It will contribute to the implementation of the region’s Higher and Further Education Strategy (which is facilitated through the RLPSWW) via the delivery of the following objectives:

To facilitate student choice by ensuring clarity over the
vocational/professional/academic mix of different courses;
To proactively engage with employers and simplify business access to services provided by Further and Higher Education; and
To deliver further and higher education’s activities in a way that is complementary to supporting economic regeneration;
To provide progression from 14-19 learning pathways to HE as an extension of local curricula for learners.

Please see letters of support attached – Annex C

Section C: Financial Proposal

15. Financial Proposal:
Please complete Annex B and provide headline detail as follows:
Total Hub funding requested per year	Year 1 £124,421 Year 2 - £123,990 Year 3 - £125,337 Year 4 - £40,575 Total project £414,323
Total Convergence practical experiences per year	Year 1 - £171,487 Year 2 - £173,755 Year 3 - £176,384 Year 4 - £ 70,129 Total Project £591,755
Total Funding requested per year	Year 1 - £295,908 Year 2 - £297,745 Year 3 - £301,721 Year 4 - £110,704
Three year total	£ 1,006,078

Section D: Endorsements

All forms signed by institutions are attqached as additions.

Regional Hub Lead:

Institution name:	Gower College Swansea
Print name:	Nick Bennett
Position in organisation:	Principal
Signature:
Date:

Partner 1:

Institution name:	Neath Port Talbot College
Print name:
Position in organisation:
Signature:
Date:

Partner 2:

Institution name:	Coleg Sir Gar
Print name:
Position in organisation:
Signature:
Date:

	Please tick to confirm
Application Form completed in full	√
Annual Delivery Plan – Annex A	√
Financial Proposal (Years 1, 2, 3) – Annex B	√
Endorsements from Regional Hub Lead and Partners – signed and dated	√

Official Use Only
Proposal Reference No
Date received