A SKILLS initiative aiming to help Bankies get on the career ladder in the care sector has received a major government funding boost.

The West Care Academy, run by West College Scotland, received almost £300,000 in the UK Government’s latest round of Levelling Up Fund awards.

The project will receive a total of £296,397 from the fund – and a further £217,784 to support the project in Inverclyde.

The initiative is aimed at helping people enter the care sector, enabling care workers to develop their skills, and building the capacity of care businesses to meet the challenges of recovering from the pandemic.

It’s one of two West Dunbartonshire schemes to secure cash from the government’s Community Renewal Fund.

The other is Community Links Scotland’s Healthy Pathways programme, set up to help socially isolated and vulnerable residents, which is getting £29,968 – just five months after receiving £120,000 from the National Lottery to support its work in the area over the next three years.

The Community Renewal Fund is part of the same Levelling Up Fund that last week gave £19 million to West Dunbartonshire Council to support taking over and transforming the Artizan Centre in Dumbarton.

A total of £18m from the fund is being given to community projects across Scotland.

Conservative West Scotland MSP Pam Gosal said: “I am delighted to see this well-deserved UK Government funding going towards such important community projects.

“These projects will help people in West Dunbartonshire to develop their skills and create a community where everyone is better off.

“This welcome investment from the UK Government highlights the benefits and security West Dunbartonshire enjoys as part of the UK.”

Alister Jack, the secretary of state for Scotland, added: “This money is being spent on projects that matter most to people.”