Link up Leigh Park: closing the opportunity, attainment and health gap for young people in Leigh Park Havant Borough Council

Led by Havant Borough Council, with University of Portsmouth as the academic partner.
Leigh Park in Havant has significant health inequalities, caused by a range of social, environmental and economic factors.
Project will develop and implement a wide-ranging, whole-system approach to improving outcomes for young people in the area, with a focus on removing barriers to accessing meaningful work.

Leigh Park in Havant has areas within the top five per cent most deprived in England, and health and economic outcomes in the area are significantly worse than the averages for Hampshire. In 2019, Leigh Park was identified by Local Trust as one of six ‘left behind’ places in the south east of England. ‘Left behind’ places have higher rates of unemployment and child poverty, and people living there are more likely to have poorer health than in other deprived areas.

Being in meaningful work with fair pay and opportunities for progression has a positive effect on health, creates social connections, and lifts people out of poverty, reducing the risk of poor long-term health outcomes.

This project led by Havant Borough Council is focused on removing societal, health and economic barriers to 16 to 24-year-olds accessing high-quality, high-value work.

The project will bring together doctors, community groups, the council, schools, colleges and businesses in Leigh Park to work together to remove the barriers that make it difficult for young people to get good local jobs.

There will be a series of workstreams covering areas such as supporting young people to remain in education, guiding young people back into training and work, and supporting employers to connect with their local community.

There are opportunities on the horizon, such as Havant Thicket Reservoir and Dunsbury Business Park, which will deliver 3,000 new jobs. This project will help ensure jobs such as these go to local people, and that young people in Leigh Park have the right skills for these jobs.