Our news  01 Feb 2012

Funding announced for new third sector apprenticeships

Skills – Third Sector is pleased to announce that new advanced apprenticeships in campaigning, fundraising and volunteer management have been approved by the National Apprenticeships Service for funding by the Skills Funding Agency. This means that third sector employers can now get help towards the training costs of apprenticeships in these professions.

Further details about these new advanced apprenticeships in campaigning, fundraising and volunteer management, can be found here.

News of funding for these new advanced apprenticeships comes in the run-up to an event looking at how third sector organisations can access funding and apprenticeships through the Youth Contract 2012. Aimed at third sector employers, this event will be held in central London on 8 February as part of Apprenticeships Week (6-10 February) and will include contributions from Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd MP, and Simon Waugh, executive chair of the National Apprenticeship Service. The event has been jointly organised by Skills –Third Sector, Fair Train and London Learning Consortium to fund, recruit and train apprentices. Details of Fair Train’s bursary scheme for apprentices will also be announced at this event. For more details, please contact Ellen Ryan of Fair Train on: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Skills – Third Sector is the registered charity working to make it easier for people who work and volunteer in charities and social enterprises to have the right skills to make a difference to people and their communities. Working with the sector throughout the process, it has developed these new apprenticeships to serve the needs of charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises.
Keith Mogford, chief executive of Skills – Third Sector, says: “This news represents the culmination of a lot of hard work on the part of Skills – Third Sector and partners in the sector. I hope that the new apprenticeship frameworks are sought out by employers, as they should be”.

Fair Train is the group training association for the third sector, offering third sector employers a fair deal on training; ensuring that the funding available is used to benefit the employer and not to generate profits for training providers.

Stephen Gardner, chief executive of Fair Train believes that the new frameworks will be of great value to many small charities who are fighting for survival: with funding through grants declining, many charities are looking to raise funds and reduce costs. These new apprenticeship will provide employers with the funding needed to train staff and build the skills they need to secure financial stability for their employers.

Organisations interested in recruiting apprentices in the new framework can also contact Fair Train, who are delivering the new qualifications. For more details, please contact Ellen Ryan of Fair Train on: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)