Make sure you protect workers during low temperatures and wintry conditions.

Our guidance offers advice on how to protect workers in low temperatures.

The guidance explains how you can assess the risks to workers and put controls in place to protect them.

Our workplace temperature checklist will help you carry out a basic risk assessment.

Also, with low temperatures and less daylight, winter can make surfaces perilous. As a result, slip and trip accidents increase significantly. Take a look at our online guide to avoiding slips and trips in winter weather.

You can also find out more by viewing our latest press release. 

The SWEF enterprise and business fund awards grants of up to £2,000 to young people in Staffordshire or Shropshire who need support with business start-up costs that they would otherwise not be able to afford, and particularly those who are not in education, employment, or training. This is not a loan scheme and recipients do not need to pay the grant back.

Who can apply?

Individuals can apply if you:

• Are aged 18 to 30.
• Applications can only be from sole traders/limited companies that have been trading for less than 2 years.
• Applications solely for “business ideas” will not be considered. You must be able to give evidence of significant steps taken to get your business off the ground.
• Applications must demonstrate a financial need for the grant.
• Applications can only come from businesses that have a business bank account.
• Applications must detail a specific use for the grant, with quotes provided.

SWEF - Enterprise & Business Grants - The Community Foundation for Shropshire

School of Coding & AI, the UK’s largest coding and computer science educator for children and adults, has been successful in a bid for funds from Shropshire Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund

It’s Project ‘Digital Shropshire’ is looking to support over 500 Shropshire residents over the next two years in Digital and Communication Skills for Life.

Digital Shropshire is designed to provide every individual over16 living in Shropshire with the chance to enhance their digital skills. Whether this is to learn how to get safely online, get ready for employment, general upskilling, or needing help with digital inclusion and accessing healthcare and other essential services online.

The courses will cover a broad spectrum, including essential digital skills and communication skills for life.

The aim of the courses is to ensure Shropshire residents are well-equipped to tackle the demands of accessing the digital world we live in, but also today’s job market.

Read the full article here: School of Coding & AI Launches ‘Digital Shropshire’ with UK Shared Prosperity Funding – Invest in Shropshire

One of the initial ‘graduates’ of a new scheme to help Shropshire entrepreneurs is now well on his way to building a new career.

Neil Laundon, of Halfway House, near Shrewsbury, has completed a course aimed at helping start-up companies in the county and is the first to be awarded a grant through the scheme.

Run by Bridgnorth business consultants Good2Great, the Shropshire Start Up programme is funded by £286,923 from Shropshire Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation, as part of the Levelling Up agenda, and will assist start-ups over the next 18 months.

Neil, a former teacher, decided on a change of career when moving to Shropshire this year and has now launched his own building company. He has also received a grant from Good2Great to buy a range of tools to assist in his work.

Neil commented: “I am an all-round builder carrying out a variety of different projects around people’s homes across Shropshire, from bathrooms and kitchens to building and renovation work.

“From a teenager, I supported my father on a part-time basis with his property services in Northamptonshire, where I have picked up all the skills I am now using. Moving to Shropshire I thought was a perfect time to branch out on my own.

“Good2Great have been fantastic. I attended a drop-in session that they were hosting in Shrewsbury and from there I learned about the on-line start-up course they ran and the opportunity of a grant.

“Right from the beginning they have helped me with the ins and outs of starting a business, reassuring me of elements I knew about and new things I hadn’t thought of.

“Receiving the grant to help toward new tools has been brilliant as it has allowed me to take on more work without worrying about the cost of the equipment I would need to complete the different jobs.”

Eddie Allan, Good2Great’s head of programme delivery, said: “We are proud that Neil is the first person to have been awarded the Start Up grant, alongside attending our eight weekly online business foundation workshops, and four one-to-one mentoring sessions, delivered by our experienced advisors Michelle Jehu and Anna Sanderson.

“This has put Neil in a great position to drive his business forward and our grant has enabled him to purchase the tools his new business needs.”

Anyone interested in taking part in the start up programme can find out more at https://good-2-great.co.uk/service/start-up/

Read the full article here: Funding Stories: Neil is Building a new career – Invest in Shropshire