New BFI Places Fund supports emerging production centres across the UK

The BFI today announces recipients of the new BFI Places Fund: Skills and Training, which seeks to help develop new and emerging production centres across the UK. Created to support targeted regional growth, it is funding organisations in Bristol, Cornwall and Swindon, which will enable them to develop longer-term strategic plans for the local area and pilot new skills and training activity.

The BFI Places Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, is making targeted interventions in three areas which are also on the Government Priority Places list. Capitalising on where there is an emerging and/or new concentration of production, the fund aims to support organisations with knowledge and expertise of the area, to bring together the necessary partners to create an offer that will benefit both the local community and local industry. They will also undertake mapping exercises to build up more comprehensive knowledge of local skills gaps and shortages, local industry needs and employment opportunities.

Sara Whybrew, Director of Skills and Workforce Development at the BFI, said:

“Here we are providing modest but very targeted funding in select areas where we can see there is real potential for growth in addition to places where we already have BFI Skills Clusters. We believe this funding can provide a vital building block in a region to help it become a viable production centre. By supporting organisations to forge partnerships which reach across local government, education, industry, local communities and beyond, we hope they can create capacity for growth, and ultimately long term benefits for these local areas, not least the realisation of a screen workforce that is representative of the local population.”…