A PROJECT which helped 1,500 people back into education has been forced to close because of a lack of funding.

Oxfordshire Learning Communities was set up three years ago to help people living in the Blackbird Leys, Rose Hill and Barton areas of Oxford to better themselves through courses.

Many of the project’s courses gave people vocational training, which helped them return to full or part-time work in areas such as childcare or IT.

But on Wednesday the learning initiative began to shut down operations because it was unable to secure funding for the year ahead.

Jim Barlow, project manager for Oxfordshire Learning Communities, said: “It is going to have to wind down.

“It is frustrating because we have set up some really good things. We have really turned round the image that there is no interest in learning on the estates and that there was no point in providing learning there.”

Mr Barlow and seven other employees lose their jobs.

Sharon Highton, 32, a mother-of-three from Kingfisher Green, Greater Leys, said she hoped to set up her own business after attending aromatherapy classes through the scheme.

She said: “The project has made a big difference. Some people have done courses and gone on to be employed.

“It has helped me realise I can achieve things.”

Oxfordshire Learning Communities was set up as a two-year project in 2006, using £800,000 of funding from the South East England Development Agency (Seeda).

Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council and Oxford Brookes University also contributed to the project, which was due to end last year.

The project’s brief was to engage people of all ages in learning at all levels.

Free classes – ranging from IT to ancient Greek – were provided by the likes of Oxford Brookes and Oxford and Cherwell Valley College.

Last May it received an unexpected £220,000 cash injection from Seeda, and began activites in Wood Farm and Northway.

However, funds ran out last month, and it has failed to secure enough extra money to keep the project alive.

Mr Barlow said he would work until the end of June on securing the long-term futures of IT hubs in Barton, Blackbird Leys and Rose Hill, and hoped some classes would continue.

ghamilton@oxfordmail.co.uk