Case studies

Durham County Council delivers a cross-county programme called DurhamWorks which supports unemployed 16-24 year olds to progress into employment, education or training (EET). To date, DurhamWorks has supported 8750 young people with 78 per cent progressing into EET or gaining a qualification. This provides the framework within which the Sessional Employment Programme (SEP) sits.

Inclusion is at the heart of Hampshire County Council’s strategies and planning, with recognition of the need to bolster support for those hard-to-reach groups with lower level skills. Hampshire Virtual College aims to ensure that young people have access to high quality, post 16 education, employment and training.

Little Troopers is a cross-agency partnership between Swindon Libraries and Information Service, Family Nurse Partnership, Housing, and Care Leavers teams to support young, vulnerable families. The open, drop-in group is for parents up to 25 years, with the average age around 20, and their children up to age three.

The Story Buses were initially launched in January 2020. The buses arose from the need to replace the library vehicle fleet and resulted in two Story Buses, named Sam and Nelly by the children, with exciting exterior designs by illustrator Nick Sharratt and interiors with well-designed spaces to sit and read.

Reception Reading Stars is a reading activity to help foster a love of books and reading targeted at parents/carers of children about to enter reception class in September.

The idea of reading to a dog originated in America. Alison Tutill had seen some research carried out by BookTrust and thought it would be something we could offer in libraries.

Hampshire County Council’s skills strategy and action plan works across two Local Education Partnerships and three unitary areas. This requires them to develop strong partnerships with providers and employers, with good skills programme networks to meet their region’s diverse needs.

Tees Valley Combined Authority aims to grow the local economy by focusing on transforming education, employment and skills across the area. Their Routes to Work pilot has supported almost 4,000 people and helped nearly 800 back into employment across the Tees Valley.

From Winter 2021 to Spring 2022, Cheshire East Libraries undertook a review of Storytime session provision across all libraries in the authority. The return to in-person activities post COVID-19 made this an excellent time to look at Storytime sessions.