APPLICATION GUIDELINES

INTRODUCTION

Please read these guidelines before starting your application.

GRANT SIZE

Grants of up to £35,000 a year are available for one year, subject to monitoring and availability of funds. For organisations with a turnover of £231,000 or less, you may only apply for a maximum of 15% of your last year’s turnover. For example, a turnover of £125,000 would indicate that you may apply for £18,750, which is 15% of £125,000. For organisations with a turnover of between £231,000 and £1m, you may only apply for up to £35,000. Organisations with a turnover in excess of £1m are not eligible for funding.

FUNDING AIMS

To promote learning and development that enables young people and adults to gain additional skills and qualifications and confidence to enter the labour market.

FUND THEMES and priorities

We support applications that:

1. Work with individuals with complex barriers to employment, enabling them to move closer or into employment, including but not restricted to ex-service personnel and ex-offenders.
2. To work directly with young people and adults who are either not in employment, education, or training (NEET), or with young people who are at risk of becoming NEET, to improve their access to employment and the labour market.
3. Increase the life skills of people so that they may further develop their careers, with a particular focus on the water, utilities, and construction industries

WHAT WE FUND

As a funder we seek to be flexible in our approach to grant applicants, and are happy to fund both project and/or core costs. We are also happy to fund Living Wage salaries.

Regardless of whether you are applying for core or project costs, we want to know how your work addresses our themes and priorities, and the outcomes you seek to achieve for your beneficiaries. We look for SMART outcomes- specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. We will also want to know how you will monitor and evaluate your work during the lifetime of the grant.

If you are applying for both project and core costs, you will need to explain to us why this will help your organisation. For example, you could be trying a new approach and need support to fund new project costs.

Last year we received far more applications than we could fund. In 2025 we will be particularly keen to support innovative approaches that highlight new ideas/ways of tackling barriers to training and employment.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?

• Your organisation must be a registered charity.
• It must be based in, and delivery its services in the UK.
• It must work directly with young people and adults who are not in employment, training, or education.

OUR PROCESS

As part of our due diligence, your application will be reviewed for eligibility. Please note that if the documents requested are not provided with your application, this may delay the processing of your application, and you may miss the deadline.

Please note that if you are successful, you will be required to complete a grant monitoring form, six months from the initial grant payment, and again at the end of the funding period. The form requests information on progress against the outcomes stated on your application, and requests information about the ages, sex, and ethnicity of your beneficiaries. In addition, an anonymised case study is requested. Failure to complete the form, or sections of it, may result in payment being withheld.

TIMELINE