M42 scheme backs award-winning social enterprise

A Birmingham social enterprise that helps young people facing complex barriers into work has received £10,000 of funding from the team behind the M42 junction 6 scheme.

Miss Macaroon is the latest beneficiary of the project’s Community Legacy Fund, part of a wider National Highways commitment to ‘give back’ to local communities by creating positive change through its work.

The investment for MacsMAD (Macaroons that Make A Difference) has enabled the creation of a dedicated training space at Miss Macaroon’s Resorts World Birmingham store.

The new space will support an additional 21 training placements over the next 36 months and will combine practical skills training with mental health support, one-to-one counselling and post-programme mentoring.

National Highways Project Manager on the M42 Junction 6 scheme, Adam Gallis, said:

“MacsMAD is a fantastic initiative that supports people facing complex barriers into employment and we’re delighted to be able to support it.

“By expanding the training space, this project unlocks access to high-quality training for communities who previously faced travel barriers. It’s a great example of how social value funding can deliver long-lasting benefits for local people.”

The project will also help to build confidence and improve wellbeing for young people living in communities surrounding the M42 J6 scheme area, including Chelmsley Wood, Shard End, Lea Hall, Yardley and Solihull.

Rosie Ginday, CEO of Miss Macaroon, said: "With a brighter, better-equipped setting, our MacsMAD trainees can build confidence, learn new skills and feel proud to be part of a social enterprise that invests in their future. We are hugely grateful to National Highways, whose generous support made this refurbishment possible."

Other causes recently supported by this scheme through the National Highways Community Legacy Fund include:

• Kingshurst Primary School in Solihull which received funding for an Outdoor Learning Hub, including a sensory area and a nature space where pupils can explore biodiversity.

• Four sensory intervention spaces were also created at Greswold Primary School — which supports a high proportion of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

• Bentley Heath Primary School and Forest Oak School received £10,000 each to transform indoor and outdoor spaces for children with SEND and complex learning difficulties with specialist sensory equipment.

• Birmingham Baseball Club was given over £2,200 to purchase new equipment for its youth team and fund a new storage facility. 

The junction 6 improvement is a nationally significant scheme that has tackled one of the region's worst traffic bottlenecks, with the new A4545 dual carriageway providing direct access from the newly-built junction 5a to Birmingham Airport, Birmingham Business Park, the National Exhibition Centre and the A45 towards Birmingham city centre.

The traffic management was taken off the M42 between junction 5 and junction 6 at the end of March, 2026 and road users are already benefitting from the extra capacity including the reconfigured junction 6.  

Work along the M42 corridor continues, and traffic management will be adjusted as further milestones are reached. National Highways will be continuing to invest on this important corridor and is working hard to coordinate activity across all projects to help minimise disruption.