Four training projects in Barnsley will share more than £800,000 from the AI Upskilling Challenge Fund, the Cabinet Office announced on 3 November 2026. The funding aims to bring practical artificial intelligence skills to frontline care staff, construction workers, women returning to employment and small businesses.

Barnsley College received £184,403 to take mobile AI training units to hospital and social care staff and the wider community. Atheni was awarded £231,000 to help 140 people, most aged 40 or over, at six manufacturing, engineering and construction firms with tasks such as quotes, tenders and safety paperwork. Fossu received £195,188 to run challenge-led programmes and buildathons for 100 residents with Barnsley YMCA, Postnatal Minds and the chamber of commerce. Optimise Cyber Solutions received £200,000 to help twenty small businesses adopt AI safely.

The fund is part of the Barnsley Tech Town initiative, which the government said was announced on 3 February 2026 as the UK's first government-backed Tech Town. Ministers said successful approaches could inform a national model. The announcement also cited a wider aim to equip 10 million UK workers with AI skills by 2030.