The project has also received £2 million of funding from the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority’s Recycled Local Growth Fund, as well as £200,000 from the College of West Anglia.
The £4 million training centre, which was launched at Business in the Community's (BiTC) 'Seeing is Believing' event in the town this week, will provide a vital hub for local people keen to pursue a career helping the environment. It will be based at a new, sustainable building, powered by solar panels and with rainwater harvesting technology installed to reduce water use.
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It is expected to open its doors for teaching on initial courses in sustainability and wildlife conservation in September 2024, with a full offering to be made available at the new building from 2025.
Once a thriving town, Wisbech has struggled with sustained underinvestment since the industrial revolution – with a national index placing the town in the bottom 10% nationally for four of the top eight deprivation indicators.
Wisbech is considered the capital of the Fens and is home to a quarter of all Fenland’s residents. Anglian Water has been working in partnership with BiTC to help regenerate the town since 2013, applying a pioneering place-based approach with the aim of improving social, economic, and environmental prosperity. This holistic thinking aligns with Anglian Water’s purpose, and the project was chosen to host the BiTC event, as it is considered an exemplar of place-based regeneration. Because of its work, Anglian Water was named BiTC’s Responsible Business of the Year 2017.
The new Green Skills Academy aims to create a pipeline of new talent, with highly employable environmental skills. Green skills such as carbon reduction and conservation work will be vital in delivering the infrastructure and environmental work crucial to building resilience against the ever-increasing impacts of climate change over the coming years. This is particularly fundamental for Anglian Water, which has proposed £9 billion of investment into the East of England between 2025 and 2030. In order to deliver this plan, the company will need to recruit thousands of new employees, including up to 800 apprentices – many of them into green jobs.
