A joint bid, submitted by Peterborough City Council, will receive £20million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, providing a huge boost to the development of ARU Peterborough, a project that will improve skills and opportunities in a city known as a higher education “cold spot”.
A joint bid, submitted by Peterborough City Council, will receive £20million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, providing a huge boost to the development of ARU Peterborough, a project that will improve skills and opportunities in a city known as a higher education “cold spot”.
The money will be invested in combining additional teaching facilities at the campus with the development of new cultural facilities. At the centre of the development is a new landmark cultural asset called The Living Lab, which will be located within a second ARU Peterborough teaching building.
The new teaching building will provide STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education to thousands of students, helping to produce a higher-skilled workforce for the city to help generate high quality economic growth and attract cutting-edge industry.
This innovative university-managed space will combine learning with an interactive public science facility and will form the heart of a new University Quarter Cultural Hub, making the city centre a more attractive destination for residents, businesses, and visitors.
The bid was submitted to Government in June following a competitive process. An announcement this week (Wednesday, 27 October) revealed the council had been successful. ARU Peterborough is a partnership between the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Peterborough City Council, and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU).
The overall cost of this new project is £28million, with Peterborough City Council contributing the land for the project to an investment value of £2million, Anglia Ruskin University investing a further £4million and the Combined Authority’s Business Board contributing £2million. The first phase of ARU Peterborough, which is already under construction, will be welcoming its first students in September 2022.
The Government’s Levelling Up Fund aims to provide funding to help regenerate towns and cities across the UK that have been identified as most in need of additional support.
In Peterborough, only 32 per cent of the population have degree level qualifications, compared to a national average of 43 per cent. The city also ranks 191st out of 324 local authority districts for social mobility, with nearby Fenland ranked 319th.
Professor Ross Renton, Principal of ARU Peterborough, said:
“This funding will help us deliver a fantastic learning environment not just for our students but the people of the city and region. Providing the city with a first-class university will help increase opportunities, improve social mobility, and provide an economic boost to the local economy.
“Universities should be deeply embedded in their communities and this innovative project aims to do just that, combining state-of-the-art facilities to help improve high-level skills, education and research to support industry in the city while enhancing its cultural offering and creating a real destination for visitors too.
