Minister sees how Europe benefits new businessesMay 26, 2004MEP Dr Barbara O'Toole found out how the University of Sunderland is helping to boost the North East economy with the help of European grants. During a recent visit to the university Dr O'Toole, who is Labour European Parliament spokesperson on Culture, Education, Youth, Media and Sport, discovered how young people at its new £9m Media Centre are putting European money to work to create the businesses of the future. The Media Centre won a grant of £120,000 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to create five 'incubator' units, which house fledgling creative businesses - from a graphic design business, to a movie production team. The incubators - named Creativitiworks - have also recently won a second ERDF grant of £67,680 which provides specialist support to any individuals with a sound business idea. Dr O'Toole said: "Sunderland University, in partnership with Europe, is investing in our students and making sure that the region has a foothold in the digital media economy. This is a real innovation for the North East region and we could not have done it without such commitment." Dr O'Toole also visited the CODEWORKS Connect and CODEWORKS NITRO projects, part of the region's centre for digital media, also based in the university new Media Centre. The Media Centre has received over £1million in ERDF and ONE NorthEast funding. The MEP's visit concluded at the National Glass Centre with a demonstration of glass design and production using the university's new state-of-the-art equipment purchased with support from ERDF, ONE NorthEast and the Tyne & Wear Partnership. The University of Sunderland currently receives approximately £2m per annum from the European Social Fund to provide free tuition and bursaries to postgraduate students in the digital media and creative industries. Anyone who has an idea for a business in the creative industries can contact Creativitiworks on 0191 5153751. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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