Nearly £1 million of funding approved for new School of Nursing Studies and improvement in Lynn's town centre.
King’s Lynn will benefit from £750,000 of accelerated Towns Fund investment for a School of Nursing at the College of West Anglia, and investment to improve the town centre under £80 million of funding announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government.
The proposals for accelerated funding were submitted by the Towns Fund Board for a School of Nursing at the College of West Anglia in King’s Lynn and a grant of £597,000 has now been secured to provide high quality nursing training facilities developed at the college campus. The college will deliver Level 5 (foundation degree equivalent) Associate Nursing Apprenticeship.
The School of Nursing has been developed by the College of West Anglia and the QEH with support of the Borough Council and other local partners. It can play an important part in addressing nursing workforce issues and will allow QEH to recruit more staff locally.
Commenting on this announcement which he asked the Prime Minster to support earlier this month, James said:
“This is great news that will kickstart training opportunities for people in West Norfolk and allow QEH to recruitment more staff locally. I was delighted to make the case for a School of Nursing to the Prime Minister and securing this investment is part of the government’s levelling up agenda.
The success of this proposal reflects the strong collaborative working between the College of West Anglia, QEH, the borough council and other local partners on the Towns Fund Board.
By investing in the town centre this funding will support projects to encourage more people to support local businesses and create new opportunities.”
The project will include the provision of two high-quality teaching spaces, refurbished into a hospital ward with two beds and equipment, to give students with near real-world experience of a clinical setting, and a simulator suite with two beds and clinical simulator dummies to present students with challenging situations. Scenarios from the simulator suite will be broadcast into larger class rooms so that a larger body of students can learn from the experience.
The Board also submitted proposals for a project to improve the town centre in Lynn including potentially providing opportunity for markets, pop up initiatives, outdoor seating areas and other schemes. A grant of £153,000 will go towards these improvements.
Only locations identified for Town Deals have been offered access to this additional grant to fund capital projects that can be delivered by 31 March 2021. The capital part of this project will be completed within the funding timescales, with the accreditation work taking place in order for the School of Nursing to receive their first cohort of students in September 2021
Notes to Editors
- Details of the £80 million of Towns Fund https://www.gov.uk/government/news/80-million-boost-to-towns
- Earlier this month James asked the Prime Minister to approve funding for the School of Nursing https://www.jameswild.org.uk/news/prime-ministers-questions-school-nursing-proposal
