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Funding for skills

The responsibility for planning and funding skills for anyone not learning in a university is currently shared across three organisations:

• The Young Peoples Learning Agency funds learning for people aged 16 to 19.
• The Skills Funding Agency funds learning for people over 19.
• The National Apprenticeship Service funds apprenticeships for people aged from 16 to 25.

Funding for skills development

Most trusts and grants only fund work that directly benefits people and their communities or supports activities such as the arts and animal welfare.

However, there are a few that recognise the value of investing in developing skills for staff, volunteers and trustees and to which you may be able to apply for funding for skills or include skills development in your project bids.

Here’s a list of some of those trusts and foundations:

• Awards for all
  Awards for All is a Lottery grants scheme funding small, local community-based projects in the UK.
• The Baring Foundation
  The Baring Foundation has specific grants programmes concerned with strengthening the voluntary sector, international development and the arts
• The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
  The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation supports work that might otherwise be considered difficult to fund. Their primary interests are in the cultural life of the UK, education and learning, the natural environment and enabling disadvantaged people to participate more fully in society.
• The Garfield Weston Foundation
  The Foundation gives grants to UK registered charities but will also consider applications from a limited number of exempt organisations - churches, educational establishments, hospitals and housing corporations.
• Grants for the Arts
  Grants for the Arts are for activities carried out over a set period and which engage people in England in arts activities, and help artists and arts organisations in England carry out their work
• Grassroots Grants
  Grassroots Grants gives grants up to March 2010 to community and voluntary groups that are led by volunteers, with an average income of less than £30,000 per year.
• Lloyds TSB Foundation
  The Lloyds TSB Foundation funds local, regional and national charities working to tackle disadvantage across England and Wales.
• The Paul Hamlyn Foundation
  The Foundation has four priority areas of funding - the arts, education learning, social justice and overseas projects, which are mainly concentrated in India.
• The Young Foundation
  The Young Foundation manages three social venture funds: Health, Learning and Youth Leadership. Each has a portfolio of ventures underway which range across the public, non-profit and commercial sectors.

This is not an exhaustive list. To find other sources of funding to support voluntary sector projects and programmes visit Funding Central.

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