A NEW skills hub launched in St Helens is part of ambitious plans for the city region to become the most digitally connected in Europe, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has said.

Clickworks, based at the former Starting Point building on Hardshaw Street, will offer skills workshops to help boost employability.

The free, drop-in service will allow members of the public to take part in various courses, ranging from digital essentials for beginners to digital marketing.

Part of St Helens Chamber, Clickworks has been developed using money from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Strategic Investment Fund.

The Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor was invited to speak at the launch event on Friday, which was attended by MPs and various council figures.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Report Service, Mr Rotheram said: “I have ambitious plans to make certain that we are one of the most digitally connected and best digitally connected in the whole of Europe.

“And that’s because the Fourth Industrial Revolution, I think, will become increasingly important to us in the city region and we need digital connectivity to ensure that we can capitalise on what those opportunities might be.

“This is a physical manifestation of those ambitions.”

The combined authority appointed a specialist consortium in January to deliver an action plan detailing how to make the city region the most digitally connected in the UK.

Mr Rotheram said the ambitious plan, which will look to drive economic growth across the city region, has “massively progressed” in the past year.

“The idea is to connect all six districts up with the digital ring that provides us with ultra-fast speeds and the capacity for big data analytics,” he said.

“That’s a huge prize that everyone is trying to win at the moment.

“We think we’re ahead of the game. We’ve massively progressed it in 12 months.”

Mr Rotheram said the combined authority has agreed funding to enable this work to go ahead, which he expects will be within 12-18 months.

He added that people of all ages are starting to understand the importance of “digital inclusion”.

Clickworks is open to people of all ages and will offer basic courses on various computer software, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Users of the service will also be able to use a variety of technology, such as tablets, computers and laptops, virtual reality and a 3D printing.

At present, the hub will not offer any coding support.

Mr Rotheram said the courses available will “whet people’s appetite” and will act as a platform for people to develop their digital skills.

He said coding was “hugely important” and said the combined authority want to readdress the gender imbalance in that area.

“We’ve made such a big thing about that because the vast majority of coders are male,” he said.

“We want to redress that imbalance and that means we need to get young girls involved in coding at an earlier age.

“We’ve got organisations like All About Stem and Liverpool Girl Geeks who are going out to schools trying to encourage young girls to get involved in this.

“This also is a facility that will do that.

“It will get people interested in these things, so they can go on and do other applications.”

Kath Boullen, chief executive of St Helens Chamber, said there is a “significant need” improve the digital landscape of St Helens.

She said: “St Helens Chamber has always been at the forefront of delivering skills and services to help local businesses and people succeed, supporting our core mission to enhance the economic success of St Helens.

“In the modern workplace, digital skills are essential for businesses to thrive.

"We recognised that there was a significant need to improve the digital landscape of St Helens, so set out develop and provide a new service that will build the digital capabilities needed.

“Through the support of funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, St Helens Council and Pilkington we are delighted to be able to launch this new digital training facility for St Helens.”