Liverpool firms will partner up to deliver the training under the Community Boost programme, which aims to equip more people in Europe with the digital skills they need to compete in today’s workplace

Liverpool-based Agent Academy and The Extraordinary Club have been chosen by  Freeformers and Facebook to deliver certified digital skills training in the North West.

The training is being delivered under the Community Boost programme, which aims to equip more people in Europe with the digital skills they need to compete in today’s workplace.

It focuses on enabling people to develop confidence and skills for future employment in a digital economy – especially those found to be lacking in the current workforce – with students at The City of Liverpool College being the first cohort to take part.

As part of the programme, Facebook is partnering with Freeformers to offer training to 75,000 people across the EU in UK, France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain.

All training will be individually tailored – from someone with strong digital skills learning about design-thinking to someone who wants to gain employment learning how to improve their online presence.

The programme is aimed at people aged 18 to 30 who want to improve existing skills or learn new digital skills to help them succeed professionally, personally or both. Training will cover modules including innovation, prototyping, web presence and social marketing,

Agent Academy was launched in 2014 to help young people who lacked the skills they needed to start careers in the creative and digital industries.

To date, 85 young people from across the North West have benefited from the 12-week programme, securing full-time industry jobs as a direct result, generating more than £2m in salaries.  

Zoe Wallace, director of Agent Academy, said: “The world of work is changing rapidly, and it’s vital that young people are skilled and ready for the opportunities that await them. Many young people are leaving education without the skills to hit the ground running in the digital industry leaving them unemployed or working in low skilled, insecure jobs.”