ECUBE

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ECUBE   Engagement, Empowerment and Employment
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Ecube is a multi-agency partnership funded by
Equal that was set up in 2004. Ecube delivers a
number of innovative, interlinked projects in the
Greater Manchester area with the common theme of
finding new ways to engage disadvantaged people
into lifelong learning and employment. A key
area for ECUBE has been to find new ways to
deliver a range of activities to hard-to-reach
groups that suffer multiple disadvantages and to
empower beneficiaries to participate in
designing, managing and evaluating projects
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About Equal

Equal is an initiative funded through the
European Social Fund (ESF). The programme tests
and promotes new means of combating all forms of
discrimination and inequalities in the labour
market, both for those in work and for those
seeking work. Equal operates across identified
thematic fields which embrace the four pillars of
the European Employment Strategy and support.
Equal funds activities implemented by strategic
partnerships called Development Partnerships
(DPs) Each DP addresses one thematic field.
Ecube addresses the objectives of theme E which
is lifelong learning and inclusive work
practices. Equal encourages participation and
transnational co-operation through partnership
building across five priority areas which are
closely focussed on key issues of concern in
Britain. The programme helps to develop good
practice that can enhance the delivery of
mainstream UK and Structural Fund activity.
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ECUBE is innovative in that it brings together a
diverse range of agencies, methodologies and
target groups to deliver a coherent strategy for
lifelong learning.
The work of ECUBE has been split into three
Actions Action 1 Development Action 2
Implementation Action 3 Dissemination and
mainstreaming
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There are currently 13 partners in the ECUBE DP
testing innovative approaches to engaging
hard-to-reach groups. Each partner has developed
their own project with a focus on engaging
service users and promoting best practise
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ECUBE   Innovations in Inclusion
Engagement Empowerment Employment
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ENGAGEMENT

• ECUBE is designed to meet the needs of a growing
  economy that is characterised by large pockets of
  deprivation and groups that are unengaged in
  lifelong learning and thus unequipped to take
  part in employment.
• It has tested innovative cross-agency delivery
  to engage and empower those sections of the
  community that suffer severe disadvantages.
• Over 500 beneficiaries engaged.

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EMPOWERMENT

• Giving a voice.
• Beneficiaries have been involved in project
  design, development, management and evaluation
• Benefits of Empowerment

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EMPLOYMENT

• Beneficiaries have gained employment as a direct
  result of the ECUBE projects.
• Access to employment
• Breaking down barriers and improving provision
• ECUBE has found ways to change attitudes and
  behaviours of key partners, systems and
  structures.

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• ECUBE has been disseminating the success of the
  partnership with a long-term goal of
  mainstreaming its products and services.
• Products from the ECUBE partnership will be
  available on Equals online resource site.
  www.equalworks.co.uk
• Further information can be obtained from
  contacting the lead partner, Toucan Europe
  www.toucan-europe.co.uk