INFORMATION


Scouting is prepared to help deprived youngsters


Peter Richardson


Event promotes economic growth


Delegates at D2N2’s free Rural Means Business Conference have heard about growth opportunities for their enterprises – and how they can access a £3m fund to help. The day conference, held at


Nottingham Trent University, included speakers talking on the EU funding available to help rural businesses. It was organised by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – the private-sector led partnership which promotes economic growth across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – and its D2N2 Growth Hub, which provides services to enable urban and rural small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to grow.


‘Targeted funding by the D2N2 LEP helps businesses in the rural parts of our area to grow’


A £3m fund was announced


by D2N2 earlier in the year to help micro businesses, companies producing food products in the LEP’s rural areas and to enhance recreational cycle networks to boost countryside tourism. Money for three programmes


– Business Development, Food Processing and Rural Tourism Infrastructure – is now available to apply for. The funding comes from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development portion of D2N2’s wider allocation of €250m in European Structural and Investment Funds; money to be used by D2N2 to invest in a wide range of projects that promote economic growth and job creation.


For more information, visit www.d2n2lep.org/EUFunding


46 business network April 2017


Derbyshire Scouts has over 10,300 members across the county with 2,500 adult volunteers supporting the delivery of scouting. James Stafford, County Commissioner for Derbyshire Scouts, explains how the Scout Association is developing scouting in the most deprived areas of England and Wales. Every year we help over 450,000


young people in the UK enjoy new adventures, experience the outdoors, interact with others, gain confidence and meet new people. Young people continue to yearn


for the excitement and adventure that Scouting can offer, building skills for life through our programme for young people aged 6-25. With our Better Prepared campaign, we aim to bring the benefits of Scouting to 200 of the most deprived areas of the UK by 2018. Through this project we have


started a group in Birdholme, Chesterfield. To date it has 45 young people enjoying Scouting, supported by ten inspiring and committed adults in leadership roles and a functioning board of trustees. This has been achieved by recruiting a self-employed project supporter. The District used a project


supporter to work with our regional services team to support the new


Scouting is reaching young people in the most deprived areas of the country


provision project during the initial set up period of 20 weeks. The project supporter provided hands- on support to the new adult volunteers as they started to get used to running the new sections. The setting up of a new provision will allow new sections to accommodate young people who are currently do not have access to Scouting. Derwent and Dove District


(Ashbourne, Matlock and parts of the Derbyshire Dales) is using this strategy to support communities in offering Scouting to as many young people as possible. The 2nd Ashbourne Scout Group currently has 135 young people who take


part in Scouting every week. Unfortunately there are still 75 young people aged 6-14 waiting to join this group alone. The Duchess of Cambridge supports the Better Prepared. We are already opening Scout groups to 70 of the 200 most deprived areas of England thanks to support from key funders, but in order to change the lives of even more young people, we need further community support. Bear Grylls, Chief Scout, said:


“Scouting makes a massive difference to young lives. You can support this work today and the rewards are immense. Helping young people is my best adventure yet.”


Women in Work Index findings revealed


The earnings gap between male and female workers in the East Midlands is one of the highest among the UK’s 12 regions, according to PwC’s annual Women in Work Index. The average female worker in the East Midlands


would need an average 26% wage hike – around £6,800 a year – to achieve parity with average male wages in the region. That compares to a £8,800 (20%) annual gender pay gap in London. PwC’s annual Women in Work Index measures levels


of female economic empowerment across 33 OECD countries based on five key indicators. The Index shows


that over the long-term, the UK has surpassed the average performance of both the OECD and G7 economies due to increasing female employment rates, a narrowing of the gender pay gap and a reduction of the gap between male and female labour force participation rates. The research reveals that opportunities for women in


the workplace have rapidly improved in the UK since 2000 and it now ranks 13th out of 33 OECD countries, and second only to Canada in the G7. Despite the encouraging rate of improvement, the


UK still falls behind based on the number of women workers in full-time employment, ranking 30th out of 33 countries. Clare Maio (pictured), Head of Diversity and Inclusion


at PwC in the Midlands, said: “While it’s encouraging that the UK is making progress on closing the gender pay gap, it is a stark outlook that it will still take around a generation to close it completely. “We know that women are ambitious – we now need


to create workplaces that support their ambition, and enough skilled and senior roles that have the flexibility to accommodate work and caring responsibilities.”


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