The Mayor has announced an additional 10,000 EV charging points will be built in the West Midlands 🔋
LEVI funding will provide more chargers and help reach net zero by 2041 💚
Over the past year, the region has seen a 36% increase in charging points 🔌
Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, and Skills Minister, Jacqui Smith, speaking to apprentice commis chef, Kundai Nazare, in an Xcelerate with Edgbaston kitchen with baked goods on the counter in front of them.
Richard met young people at Xcelerate with Edgbaston alongside Skills Minister Jacqui Smith.
Xcelerate is a community learning hub aiming to boost a million career prospects by 2030 💼
So far, they’ve trained around 3,500 people - including Kundai, a Path 2 Apprenticeships participant 💪
The Mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker looking onwards with a free bus ticket billboard in the background.
"The uptake on the free travel has been fantastic, but we still need to do more to make the region's buses work better for local people." 🗣️
Richard on the Passenger Incentive Programme passing five million bus journeys in its first year 🚌
Read more:
www.wmca.org.uk/news/mayor-s...
Wolverhampton will play host to the next Ask The Mayor 🗣️
📅 Tuesday 29th April
📍 Mander Centre Community Hub, WV1 3NH
🎟️👇
The Mayor of the West Midlands - Richard Parker - being shown how to operate the Stuyf pickup, which is one of the low-speed electric vehicles being trialled at the University of Warwick campus.
🗣️ The Mayor said: "The government is backing my plan to invest in top talent and tech, so we can reduce our carbon emissions and get everyone to net zero, while creating jobs.
"That’s how I’m going to build cleaner communities and a stronger economy."
Electric cargo vehicles are on trial at the University of Warwick that could replace petrol and diesel delivery vans 🚎
Funding from the West Midlands Innovation Programme is being used by the Last Mile Logistics Project to run tests 🔋
A person pointing while talking to another person.
🗣️ Richard said: "Our Innovation Accelerator has already helped more than 700 businesses secure £70 million of additional investment, fuelling new ideas, creating jobs, and driving growth, which will build a stronger and more prosperous economy for the West Midlands."
The West Midlands Innovation Accelerator is getting a funding boost 💰
The additional £10 million will support even more of the region’s innovative businesses, researchers and entrepreneurs to grow the economy 🧑🔬
Richard was in Birmingham to commemorate the end of Ramadan ✨
The annual Eid prayers attract thousands of residents each year 🙏
🗣️ The next Ask The Mayor instalment is coming to Dudley!
📅 Tuesday 1st April
⏰ 6-7pm
📍 Black Country Living Museum, DY1 4AL
🎟️ 👇
Richard Parker speaking to a member of staff who secured work through Colebridge Trust.
🗣️ Richard said: "Small charities in all corners of the West Midlands are working tirelessly to make a difference for everyone, especially the most vulnerable, in our region.
"Colebridge Trust is changing lives - helping local people learn, earn and reach their full potential."
💼 The Mayor visited Colebridge Trust, who have helped 500 people gain confidence and skills needed to secure jobs and training opportunities.
🤝 The Trust has employed over 45 people from the local area, some who have faced challenges in the job market.
🏡 A programme to upgrade some of the region’s dampest social housing will help improve the lives of thousands of families faced with a potential health hazard.
👥 The £15m Social Housing Decency Fund has made 8,000 individual improvements across the West Midlands.
👇 Details
🗣️ The Mayor said: "I am working with businesses across the region to deliver training, open up work placements and increase the number of apprenticeships available."
A person listening to a conversation with Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker.
🧱 Thousands of bricks have been donated to provide Walsall College students with hands-on experience
💪 Persimmon Homes have committed to strengthening the industry’s future workforce
🗣️ "It is essential that we develop these sites, attracting investors and growing industries, to reignite the economic growth this region has long been waiting for."
📈 The Mayor on securing additional funding for three investment zones.
An aerial photo of the old James Bridge Copper Works site.
🗣️ Richard said: “This former copper works will create hundreds of valuable jobs, but most importantly, it will be a catalyst for economic growth in the region.”
A new £100m manufacturing and logistics hub in Walsall will create around 1,000 jobs once completed 🔧
Richard Parker speaking to an audience behind a podium at the West Midlands Business Festival.
🗣️ “The next two weeks are packed with even more incredible opportunities for businesses to connect and collaborate with each other and help drive our economy to the next level.”
💼 Richard Parker on the launch of the West Midlands Business Festival.
"We’ve already created 5,000 training, work experience and apprenticeships and I’m calling on employers to work with me to help drive down youth unemployment.
“It’s only by working together that we can give young people the opportunities they deserve."
Richard Parker listening in to a conversation with Katie, a young person, who has benefitted through employer opportunities.
💼 Young people who are not in education, employment, or training are set to benefit from a new scheme designed to get them into work.
🆕 YouthPath will work alongside businesses to create career opportunities for the region’s young people.
Richard Parker standing with another person on a stage under a presentation slide that reads: "Adult Learning Awards."
You have until 5 March to recommend individual learners, educators, learning providers or employers for recognition at this year's Adult Learning Awards 🏆
Richard Parker and Deputy West Midlands Mayor, Cllr Sharon Thompson, walking on the recently renovated Dudley Road pedestrian path.
A £21m funding package from the Government will improve cycling and walking routes in the West Midlands 🚶
🗣️ Richard said: "Now, with this funding I’ve secured from Government, our councils can bring even more roads up to scratch and our motorists can enjoy journeys which are quicker, safer and with reduced wear and tear on vehicles.”
An AI generated image of a pothole.
The Mayor has secured funding worth filling 88,000 potholes across the West Midlands 🛣️
