The History of WNC

Wolverhampton Network Consortium (WNC) was originally established in 1997 to develop a co-ordinated vision of ways to actively involve people in the life of local communities. It built on four original geographic networks and grew to deliver Action Plans under the 1997/99 Objective 2 programme in Wolverhampton. It was incorporated as a company, limited by guarantee, in October 1998 and, in the intervening years, has successfully delivered three European Action Plans. The first Action Plan supported close on 50 projects, costing nearly £10m and utilising ERDF and ESF grants of £4.5m.

The second Action Plan took the approach of supporting projects identified via a local planning process. This Report evaluates the third of the European Action Plans, noted above, running from 2003-2006. In this Action Plan, some £7m of European funding has been successfully matched to a range of funding sources to ensure investment of some £24m is in evidence across the City: note the improvement in the leverage ratio from the first Action Plan.

The original submission for funding to GOWM, for the third Action Plan, stated that WNC was intent on ensuring that communities continued to play a key role in the delivery of the Action Plan. It also concentrated on working closely with partner agencies to address “cross cutting” issues in the local community.

The Objectives for the Action Plan were stated as:

1 To develop and enhance the organisational infrastructure and capacity for community economic regeneration within and across the priority areas of Wolverhampton (Measure 3.1)

2 To develop employment opportunities for residents in the Priority 3 areas of Wolverhampton and support the creation of new jobs, enterprises and income learning opportunities for residents, particularly via non-traditional strategies (Measure 3.2)

3 To build sustainable and Connected Neighbourhoods within the Priority areas of Wolverhampton and to enable residents to improve their local environment and strengthen local facilities (Measure 3.3)

4 To enhance and develop the skills of communities in the Priority 3 neighbourhoods in Wolverhampton and to increase the opportunities for residents to access learning and to acquire occupational and vocational skills and qualifications. (Measure 3.4)